


Just Like Starlight

by watchmedance (Radi0Activity)



Category: Fantastic Four (Movieverse), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, Character Death, Hell, Hurt Tony Stark, Logan has FEELINGS, Maria Hill's Job Interview, Mutant Tony Stark, Ororo Is Just Cool, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Avengers (2012), Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark-centric, Tony Sucks At Hiding Secrets (but people are oblivious anyways)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-09
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-02-20 12:10:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2428190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radi0Activity/pseuds/watchmedance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s quite a unique mutation, one that Charles hasn’t seen the likes of before. So, when he finds a ten-year-old Anthony Stark huddled at his front door in the middle of the wind and snow looking absolutely terrified, he’s not sure whether to believe the boy or not. But he feels compelled to, seeing as the first thing out of the boy’s mouth is; “Help me, Professor.” And he sounds so helpless and truly lost that Charles melts completely and invites him inside. </p><p>-</p><p>“What’s the matter?” Says Jarvis, rather worriedly indeed. </p><p>“You know,” Anthony says in an accusatory tone, folding his arms across his small chest and looking down at his feet. He shifts in his stance and runs his tongue across his bottom lip which is now quivering in terror. </p><p>“I do.” Agrees Jarvis, rather firmly. “But you need to realize that you’ll never hurt me.” </p><p>"How do you know?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Wanna Be Known As Hell Because That's Got, Like, Fire In It

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh, yeah. I've been working on this for a little while now and I decided 'eh, what the heck' and put it up. I hope you enjoy!

It’s quite a unique mutation, one that Charles hasn’t seen the likes of before. So, when he finds a ten-year-old Anthony Stark huddled at his front door in the middle of the wind and snow looking absolutely _terrified,_ he’s not sure whether to believe the boy or not. But he feels compelled to, seeing as the first thing out of the boy’s mouth is; “Help me, Professor.” And he sounds so helpless and truly lost that Charles melts completely and invites him inside.

“Hello, Mister Stark.” Says Charles as they, well, _Anthony_ walks.

“Hello, Professor Xavier.” Says Anthony, gaze sweeping up the length of Charles’ wheelchair with interest.

“Call me Charles.” Says Charles, smiling.

“Then don’t call me Mister Stark.” Says Anthony who, contrary to the Professor, is frowning.

Charles decides that the boy looks better when he smiles.

They walk along the vast halls of ‘The Xavier Institute for Higher Learning’ in silence. Anthony doesn’t frown, though he has an expression of deep thought on his young face which is enough to make _Charles_ frown. It is as they walk that Charles decides to explore Anthony’s mind and see whatever the matter is. Even though he finds himself feeling terribly, terribly guilty about doing so.

-

_Anthony’s walking briskly down a long corridor, eyes adjusting slowly to the faint candlelight. It’s because he’s scared of the dark and Howard has no wish to leave lights on in the nighttime. He may be rich, but he’s not willing to splurge that money on a babied little boy who freaks out when the lights go out._

_“Young Master Anthony?” There’s a smooth British voice emitting from behind him and he finds himself spinning around. His eyes lock on an aged man with thinning grey hair and frown lines upon his worried forehead. Almost as soon as his gaze locks, he averts it quickly._

_“Hello, Mister Jarvis.” He says._

_“What’s the matter?” Says Jarvis, rather worriedly indeed._

_“You know,” Anthony says in an accusatory tone, folding his arms across his small chest and looking down at his feet. He shifts in his stance and runs his tongue across his bottom lip which is now quivering in terror._

_“I do.” Agrees Jarvis, rather firmly. “But you need to realize that you’ll never hurt me.”_

_“ **How do you know?** ” The boy is shouting now, eyes raised to look at his tutor and then averting to a candle, watching the light as it flickers merrily above the wax. _

_Jarvis opens his mouth to speak, but the flame licks upwards towards the ceiling and transforms into a myriad of different shapes and forms, before going out completely. Anthony stumbles back in horror, eyes still fixated on the candle._

_It is then that the whole candle disappears in an explosion of fire and there is nothing left to show for it – not even a single ash._

-

Charles escapes the memory instantly, recoiling in shock but trying to brush it off as though it was nothing. It would not do for the young boy to know he’d been probing around in his head. So, Charles seems to have deduced by now that he seems to be a pyro of some sort… but it’s the other ability that has really shaken Charles up. It seems as though Anthony can make things explode with no more than a mere glance, like he can destroy something so thoroughly and intimately that there will be no residue, no _evidence_ , that anything ever happened at all.

And _that_ is the most frightening prospect of the whole thing.

“What can you do, Anthony?” Charles asks, even though he already knows. He must keep up the pretense that he really wasn’t looking in Anthony’s memoirs mere moments ago.

“You know already.” Says Anthony, softly. “I can see in the way that you look at me. That you’re not disgusted, but completely amazed. _Intrigued,_ even.” It amazes the professor how grown up the young boy’s words seem to be and it makes him almost sad that the boy has had to grow up so fast.

_My, my, Howard. What have you done?_

 Charles doesn’t know what to say, so he says the only thing he can because saying _sorry_ seems a little too artificial for the current moment. “Are you sure you’re not an empath?”

“Quite sure.” Says Anthony and there’s a slight smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth as he speaks. Charles decides that he quite likes that smile.

It’s real.

-

Howard let’s Anthony go to school there, completely under the impression that it is just what it seems – a regular school. Only Jarvis knows better, which fills Anthony with a sense of excitement and adrenaline whenever he’s on his way down there. When he goes to the school, he feels like a normal, rebellious child again. Which, thinking about it, it’s kind of sad.

He knocks on the door on his first day, cocking his head to one side nervously as he awaits for someone to answer the door. However, it’s not Charles who opens the door, it’s some guy with an odd looking visor over his eyes and shaggy brown hair with a royal blue cap perched on it. Suddenly, Anthony feels nervous.

“Where’s Charles?” The young billionaire asks in a hoarse tone.

Visor-Dude shrugs. “Somewhere.” He doesn’t look like he cares all that much, though maybe that’s because Anthony can’t see his eyes. “What’s your name?”

Anthony smiles toothily. “Tony Stark. And you?”

“Scott Summers.”

They shake hands, and Scott invites Antho… Tony inside.

-

Tony meets a pretty red-haired girl named Jean next. He thinks, though he reckons she’s rather pretty everywhere, that her eyes are the best part about her. Piercing green and filled with so much life that Tony doesn’t really know what to think (goodness, have his eyes _ever_ looked like that?).

“Hello.” She says timidly when Scott introduces them. Then she frowns slightly; “Are you really a mutant? What can you do?”

“Spontaneous combustion with my eyes,” says Tony with a troubled frown. “And I’m a pyro.”

“Huh,” says Jean with interest and her eyes sparkle slightly when she says them, like she couldn’t really be any prouder of her abilities. “I’m a telepath – only slightly though. My main power is telekinesis.”

“Do you guys have mutant names?” This time, Tony can’t stop himself from uttering the words that build up at the back of his throat. This… this is exciting.

“I’m still thinking,” says Jean, running a hand through her hair. “But Scott here is Cyclops. He has to wear that visor thingy, otherwise the power that comes from his eyes will probably take down the building.”

“Can I have a mutant name?” Tony asks quickly. “I wanna be known as Hell. Because that’s got fire in it.”

Jean snorts with laughter then tells him he can be whatever he wants.

 Tony decides he rather likes Jean.

-

Whatever he may think about Jean, she’s not as cool as Ororo.

In Tony’s opinion, anyone who can cause a storm is simply the coolest person _ever_. Sure, Jean can lift stuff up with her mind and probe around in other people’s minds. Sure, Scott’s eyes are possibly more deadly than a lecture at school. Sure, Tony can control fire and make stuff blow up (but it’s scary). And, yeah, sure, Tony’s heard of a girl who can transform into other people and… and the guy who can control metal? And Charles is, like, _the_ most powerful mutant Tony’s ever met.

Not the point, anyway.

Ororo is just cool.

She gets cooler when she calls herself Storm.

And then she’s even got white hair to match and… crap, now Tony’s being a mutant-fanboy.

Then she gets epically cooler when she becomes Tony’s best friend.

“Hi,” is the first thing she says.

“Is it true you make storms and… and lightning and stuff?” It’s actually kind of sad how Tony’s so excited that he can’t even say a simple ‘hi’ back. But, that’s irrelevant. Tony is so, _so_ jealous of her but… you know. He’ll probably pretend otherwise.

“Not very well, yet. Plus, my eyes look creepy when I do.”

Tony waves a hand. “That’s so cool, though!” He gushes.

“What can you do?”

Tony tells her and then has an internal fanboy moment when she looks impressed.

-

“Have you met them, yet?” Charles asks one morning when he and Tony are practicing Tony’s pyrokinetic abilities. Tony’s pretty much got the hang of his spontaneous combustion (as it turns out, he gets really tired when he does it with his eyes, but if he merely touches the thing he wants to explode… really, he can go on for ages like that.

“Yeah,” says Tony as he sends a blast of fire spiraling up to the roof, then brings it back down as a fierce dragon, roaring and spitting embers before vanishing in a quick flash of light. He’s pretty good with fire now too, but he’s also fourteen now, so he’s had four years of practice with Charles. It’s cool, ‘cause he can even _surf_ fire and _everything._

He lets out a yell and flashes across the room as a single blast of flames, licking from his original position and towards the door, then around the room and back. Speed is good, so is fire. Once he’s stabilized, he turns his gaze towards the door and makes it explode in a flash of fire.

It’s a mark of how used to his powers he is, that Charles doesn’t even flinch. Instead he sighs heavily. “Next time, I’d much prefer it if you exploded the vase I left out for you, rather than the door.”

“Ah,” Tony looks at the ugly floral vase for a fleeting moment. “I see.”

-

Its six years later when Logan walks in. Tony is twenty and decides instantly that this dude is possibly the most irritating guy he’s ever met. Although, “Wolverine” isn’t the only mutant who has pissed Tony off enough to make him thoroughly dislike them.

Two words.

Scott Summers.

Officially _the_ most irritating person ever.

But, that’s actually beside the point. Logan walks in to Tony’s bedroom when the man is trying to actually sleep for once in his life, and says; “Hey, bub.” Then walks out like nothing happened. That is why Tony instantly hated him.

I mean, _hell-o_. Sleep is precious – even Tony knows _that_. He just thinks it’s a waste of time.

“Holy shit.” Says Tony, sitting up quickly and looking kind of like he’s just seen a ghost. “Hey! Who the hell are you?” Which, in his tired state, he probably kind of thinks he had.

Logan pokes his head past the door. “Logan.” He says shortly, in a voice that carries with it a deep accent. “You that playboy billionaire who always seems to piss me off on the news?”

 _Uh, yeah._ Except, he doesn’t say that.

Tony raises his eyebrows. “Didn’t know you had enough to afford a T.V. You don’t look like you could afford a hotdog.”

“Watch it, bub.” Says Logan shortly and weird metal claws slide out of his knuckles. “You don’t know who you’re talking to.”

Tony’s eyes blaze and he stands up, one hand on the headboard of his bed just to steady himself because he _may or may not_ have been up for three days straight and man, does he need sleep. “Hell, I do.” The billionaire snaps coldly. “Well, not really.” He adds sheepishly as a second thought.

Logan merely looks unimpressed.

-

So, the two got off on the wrong foot.

Whatever.

Soon, they become tight enough to be considered almost besties. Which is probably mostly Scott’s fault for being annoying. Once they realize they both have a common enemy, they find themselves allying themselves together for prank wars – things like that.

Logan seems to hate the Cyclops because Jean has _feelings_ for him (in Tony’s opinion, feelings are overrated). Tony hates him (not really, he’s just annoying) because he’s… well, alive.

So Hell and the Wolverine become buddies. Who knew?

Most people tended to steer clear when they were together because, _Chaos,_ with a capital ‘C’. 

Jean finds out about Logan’s little crush because one morning, when she’s trying to make a smoothie in peace, Tony rounds the corner, pulling Logan with him. “Hey!” Tony exclaims, eyes lighting up (and Jean doesn’t miss the way Logan’s face gets an almost panicked look to it). “Pup, it’s your girlfriend! Jean, he likes you. Bye.”

The billionaire disappears around the corner and away from Logan as fast as possible.

-

When Charles gives Tony the X-Men uniform, Tony looks at it sadly, tucks it in his backpack and tells him that he cannot stay any longer.

“I’m sorry,” he says, afterward, when Charles looks kind of helpless. “I really am, but I have a company to run now.” Charles understands, because the young man’s parents have just passed away and, though he wasn’t really their biggest fan, Tony is still devastated.

Then he leaves and never comes back.

And nobody knows really what to think.

-

Every time there’s an update, Charles sends him a new uniform so that he may always be a sort-of-unofficial member of the X-Men.  

In return, Tony becomes the school’s primary sponsor. The money comes in anonymously, but the X-Men all know who it comes from. Everyone else just thinks its all Charles’ inheritance.

It’s not.


	2. There's Nothing Scarier Than A Woman On A Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, he’s told Rhodey and Pepper, whatever. It doesn’t mean he has any intentions whatsoever of letting the Avengers (or S.H.I.E.L.D for that matter) know. Tony’s kept his mutation hidden for so long now, he’s not even going to let a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D spies and their personal lapdogs find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, yeah, hi. This woul've been churned out sooner, except my birthday was on Sunday so... yeahhhh...

Virginia “Ginny” Potts awakens early on Thursday morning. She sits up, smiles to herself and turns her alarm off before it has the chance to ring when she’s in the shower or something. With a deep breath, she swings her legs over the side of her bed and pushes her quilt to the side, sitting up with a stretch.

“Good morning, Miss Potts.” She mutters to herself, before heading briskly to her wardrobe and picking out a black pencil skirt and a white, collared long sleeve shirt and laying them on her bed. Then, she spins around and heads straight to the shower, turning it on quickly.

That’s been Ginny’s morning routine for as long as she can remember. Get up. Pick out clothes. Shower. Change. Go to work.

It sucks and it’s boring and repetitive, but Ginny’s a woman of schedule and repetition, so the whole ‘same thing every day’ gig she has going, isn’t all that bad. So, that morning, when she’s sorting through documents and reading through them much more carefully than anyone else ever does and spots a _math error_ in _Mister Stark’s_ personal documents… well, she doesn’t care who wrote the document.

If she tells her boss, she could save Stark Industries millions of dollars. So, that’s what she does.

“Mister Reeves,” she calls, lacing her fingers together and sitting rigidly in her chair. Her boss, a young man with thin black hair and beady grey eyes, turns around and looks up from his bright computer screen, eyebrows raised.

“Yes, Potts?” He asks shortly, drumming his fingers impatiently on his keyboard. He’s an impatient man, everyone knows that, but it’s ticking Ginny off much more than usual right now and she can’t seem to work out why.

“There seems to be a mistake, uh… A math error.” She finds herself swallowing nervously even though she knows she’s the best thing that ever happened to Mister Reeve’s unit, so she shouldn’t be worried about losing her job. “It could save the company millions if resurrected, but, uh…” Her voice trails off at the end, her sentence hanging in the air even though she can’t quite work out why but she could _kick_ herself for letting it happen.

“Mister Stark doesn’t make math errors.” Mister Reeves laughs, then turns away and back to his computer as though his assistant isn’t worth his time anymore. His fingers move terribly slowly over the keys, which is one thing about her boss that Ginny has always found irritating.

“I’m sorry, Sir.” Ginny snaps, nervousness turning abruptly into annoyance. “But I don’t give a damn who did the math. I’m going to turn it in to Mister Stark himself if I have to.”

Mister Reeves shrugs nonchalantly. “You do that. Lose your job. Get a reputation as an idiot for all I care.” He sighs heavily. “Look, you and I… Our job is simply to do what we’re told and keep our traps shut.”

“Then this business probably isn’t something for a girl like me.”

“A girl like you?” His eyebrows raise.

“Impertinent. Probably an idiot. A workaholic.”

-

Soon, Miss Potts finds herself standing just outside the door to Mister Stark’s office. She’s shaking slightly and her eyes keep darting from the guns in the hands of the two guards out front, to the ‘SECURITY’ badges on the breast pockets of their Stark Industries issued suits.

“I just need to get in and see Mister, uh, Stark?” It comes out as more of a question and Ginny finds herself irritated at her own nervousness for the second time that day. What is _wrong_ with her?

“No can do, Ginger.” Says the guard on the left.

Ginny steps forward anyway. “You just heard Julian, back off, Ginger.” Says the other and she finds herself suddenly well aware of every little twitch and movement they make, every breath and even the amount of muscle in their beefy arms. They could take her down in an instant if they actually tried.

“I swear,” Ginny starts to threaten the two men in a voice much stronger than she feels. Before she continues, she pulls out a little spray bottle from her hand bag with slightly shaking hands. “It’s usually just for defensive purposes. Let me in, or I’ll use it.” She shakes the bottle of pepper spray for good measure.

The guard on the left looks wary, but the other one merely snorts. Seeing that they aren’t about to listen to her, she squirts one quick cloud up at the second guard, then directs the nozzle at the other. “Really sorry, er, Julian, was it?” Then, with one more squirt, they’re both rolling on the ground in agony and clutching their eyes.

She sighs heavily, straightens her shirt and posture, and then steps over them in her six-inch louboutin heels. She calmly pushes open the door to Mister Stark’s office and smiles pleasantly at the billionaire. “Hello, Mister Stark.”

“Hello,” says Tony without even looking up at Virginia. “How did you get in? I told Happy and Julian to keep everyone else out.” He straightens up a stack of papers, then scribbles something at the bottom, before discarding the sheet of paper to a pile to the left. He runs his tongue against his bottom lip and scans the next sheet.

“Apparently they were no match for a woman on a mission.” Ginny says in a tone that she hopes is nonchalant.

That seems to catch the billionaire’s attention, and he looks up with interest. His eyes sparkle with humour and he cocks his head to one side. “Yeah?” He asks. “What did you do? Kick them in the balls?” He sounds almost hopeful.

“Pepper spray.” She says and places the bottle on his desk, hoping that he’s not going to see her as a threat and use her own weapon against her.

He looks impressed and rakes his eyes up and down her figure in a way that is almost unnerving. “Mmhm,” he nods, not even looking like he cares that she’s just broken in to his office with force. He quickly places the bottle in a desk drawer. “Hang on a sec, I’ve just got to get medical up here to take care of Happy. Julian needs to be sacked anyway.” He places a quick call, then turns back to Ginny with interest. “What was it you wanted?”

“You made a math mistake.”

“I thought I might have.” He grins in triumph, almost as though he thinks he’s made some sort of breakthrough. “I was just drunk last night and had these last minute documents to fill out. Fun, eh, Pepper?”

“My name’s Virginia.” Says Ginny, indignantly.

“Pepper’s hot, if you know what I mean?” He winks, pun obviously intended, and Ginny rolls her eyes. “Anyway, I’d like you to resign, please. If not, I’ll ask your boss to fire you. Who’s your senior?”

The red-head gapes at him in complete and utter shock. Is he really sacking her? That means she’ll have to go job hunting again, and she _hates_ job hunting. “But I just saved the company millions!”

“I know, which is why I want you to be my PA.”

“I… what?” She’s about to retort something smart, then finds her mouth dropping open in shock for what feels like the millionth time that day as she realizes what he’s saying.

“You _do_ want the job, right?” He says it in a voice that almost makes it seem like he’s taking her for some sort of idiot already, which is one of the reasons why she’s even contemplating taking the job – to prove him wrong again. That, and she knows it’s probably the highest paying job in the business. 

“Well, yeah, but…” She’s still shocked that he’s just assuming she’ll take the job, even though _she_ knows she probably will.

“Good! Sign here.” He pushes a stack of papers at Ginny, then sighs in resignation as she reads through each of them thoroughly. What? She’s just one of those people. If anyone (Mister Stark) wants to get stroppy about it even though it takes her around ten minutes to read through… Well, that’s not her problem.

Finally, she signs, a delicate little signature in the corner of the page, just below Mister Stark’s own large and extravagant one. She’s often thought that someone’s signature is a mark of their personality, and thinks that this is obviously a keen example of that.

“Thank you, Pep.” He says with a grin. “Now, see, I’m about to tell you something very important, because I trust you now. You read where it says: NO SECRETS MAY BE DISCLOSED TO ANY THIRD PARTIES.”

Pepper, as she is obviously now known, narrows her eyes warily. “What…?”

“I’m a mutant. There you go. Now only you and Colonel Rhodes and the X-Men know. If you tell anyone… well, we don’t want to go there, do we?” He grins toothily at her and she stiffens.

“I… what? How do you expect me to believe…?” The vase to her right explodes, and Pepper jumps back with a muffled scream (muffled, because she threw her hand over her mouth just in time). “I… touché, Mister Stark.” Tony laces his hands together and gazes curiously at the now empty place where the vase used to be. There’s something in his eyes that tells Pepper that he’s having a hard time accepting that she just believed him. However, Pepper’s still freaking out, she’s just good at hiding it.  

“First errand, Pepper.” He decides, cocking his head to the side for a moment, seemingly contemplating the empty space for a moment. “I need a new vase. And go tell your boss that you resign.”

-

So, he’s told Rhodey and Pepper, whatever. It doesn’t mean he has any intentions whatsoever of letting the Avengers (or S.H.I.E.L.D for that matter) know. Tony’s kept his mutation hidden for so long now, he’s not even going to let a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D spies and their personal lapdogs find out.

He acted annoyed that he didn’t qualify for the Avengers, and maybe he was, but if he _was,_ it was only because they’d brushed him off. In the long run, he knew it was a good thing he wasn’t with them. He was already an unofficial X-Men member and, anyway, joining the Avengers would make him liable for team bonding and talking about _feelings_ and shit. And with feelings, comes talking about *ahem* mutations.

This is also why he doesn’t want the Avengers to move in. That, and it’s fun to watch Fury beg.

“Stark.”

“No.”

“ _Please_ Stark.”

“Nuh-uh.”

Fury’s eye-patch twitches and the Avengers (namely, Clint) found themselves snorting in amusement at the look on Fury’s face that would have been described as desperation, had Fury actually been capable of feeling emotion.

“Okay,” Tony says, and when Fury’s about to breathe a (internal) sigh of relief, he holds up a hand as if to say _I’m not done, yet_. “Bruce can stay. I need _science_.”

“Please.” Says Fury, through gritted teeth.

“You heard my answer, no.”

“I’ll beg.” Except Fury kind of sounds like he’d rather die than beg. Which, he probably would.

Tony raises his eyebrows. “Oh yeah? Beg then. Get on your knees, Sparrow, and beg.”

Fury scowls. “No.”

Tony raises his chin, grins wickedly and tells Fury that _okay, fine_ he’ll house the Avengers for a little while. Just until they find somewhere better to live. Tony’s not _that_ hospitable.

-

Okay, so _maybe_ Stark isn’t very excited about the Avengers moving in. Thor’s obsessed with pop-tarts, and if Tony doesn’t order enough… _whoops,_ there goes the TV! Steve does that thing, where he doesn’t seem to give two shits about trees, and orders the paper, then reads it like the _old_ man he is. So, now Tony has to deal with the paper delivery at some ungodly hour of the morning.

JARVIS’ wakeup call now is; _“Excuse me, Sir, but the paper has arrived._ ”

And Tony yells at the top of his lungs _all_ sorts of profanities, before blowing up the twelfth quilt cover this month. “Rogers!” He shouts. “I’M GOING TO SPLIT YOUR INSIDES OPEN WITH A TOOTHPICK!” And then he swears some more, before retreating to his lab.

Clint has a habit of eating breakfast on top of the fridge. The countertops. The head of the sofa. Anything that _isn’t_ , you know, a _chair_. Sometimes, Tony will head toward the fridge to grab a beer after he’s blown off enough steam about the _newspaper_ (and, “really, Tony? Is alcohol really healthy this early in the morn-” then Tony cuts Steve off with the finger) when suddenly, something big and Clint-shaped will plummet off the fridge. And Tony’s like, _really? Seriously? Now I’m Ultra-Pissed-Off._

Natasha likes sharpening her knifes in the kitchen and _any_ wrong word (and Tony means _any_ ) will have a knife hurtling towards his face. He’ll flinch and whatever, but Natashalie’s aim is just _that_ good that the knife never would’ve pierced his face anyway.

Bruce is okay, but his self-esteem is incredibly low, and Tony has learnt by now not to let him have his pick of the music they play in the lab. Otherwise some cheesy pop song or classical Indian music or, worse, that annoying melodic shit that doesn’t even have _words_ you can belt along to.

So, yeah, the Avengers aren’t all that bad.


	3. A Very Interesting Friendship That No-One Saw Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I want to show up in my X-Men uniform. I want to fight with them. I mean, I’m not even actually an Avenger…. Please… Do I even want to be an Avenger? Maybe a little. But I want to just be in a world where nobody cares that I’m a mutant or that I can blow shit up or even that I can control fire like it’s my own arm.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm not sure when I'll be updating next, 'cause I'm going to Sydney soonish and, yeahhhhh... Hmm...

When Natasha’s in the infirmary at S.H.I.E.L.D trying to hold it together (and succeeding, but whatever) because Barton is all bashed up and bloody, Pepper has to close her eyes and reopen them again just to make sure she’s not dreaming. There Tony is, an arm snaking hesitantly around the agent’s shoulders and a hand squeezed protectively around her slightly smaller one (and it’s totally brotherly love, Pepper knows that).

Don’t get me wrong, Pepper isn’t jealous. Mostly, she’s confused and tired and just such a mixed up jumble of feelings that she’s not really sure what to think. Actually, if she could even think straight right now (what, with all SI’s crap going on) she’d have told Tony how sweet he looked.

But all she can get out is a muffled yawn and a quick; “date night tonight, Mister Stark.”

Tony looks shocked that he’s been caught and almost pulls his arm away from Natasha (but with a stern look from Pepper, he leaves it there) before smiling pleasantly at his girlfriend. “You got it, Miss Potts.”

Natasha laughs.

Pepper wonders if she’s completely misjudged the agent simply because of a past mission she’d been sent on. The mission where she’d entered their lives as a fake, simply to report information to S.H.I.E.L.D.

-

That’s not the only time that they’ve been seen together, either. Or, not just _seen_ together, more like, but having a civil conversation.

One night, the team (plus Pepper… and Jane and Darcy… and Rhodey, too) are eating dinner at the table. It’s kind of weird, because, you know, they’re having an actual civilized conversation and getting along and _Tony_ isn’t in his ‘shop’. Weird, right?

Then more weird shit happens, and Darcy finds herself thinking, uh, _what?_ Because _Natasha_ and _Tony freaking Stark_ are laughing and chatting mindlessly to one another. Then, when Tony brings up _Obadiah Stane_ , his entire demeanor shifts and he withdraws in on himself.

“Can I kill him?” Asks Barton, looking hopeful.

“He’s already dead,” Steve informs the archer. Because Steve has read up on everything there is to know on the twenty-first century and is now something of a modern-era genius except he still _sucks_ with computers.

“Oh.”

Then Thor looks up. “I would have killed him, had he not been killed already.” It’s a promise, and there’s a sort of manic gleam in his eyes.

“Hulk,” is all Bruce has to say for everyone to get it.

Tony’s smiling inwardly now, feeling kind of flattered in a rather _twisted_ way.

“I wouldn’t have killed him.” Natasha says bluntly, carving a few Russian words into the table with her knife. “I’d have tortured him for _a-ges_ ,”-here, she grins wickedly-“then killed him.”

Tony grins, a proud grin that has Steve wincing a little. “Thanks, Tasha.” Because he likes the way her mind works.

-

Steve wakes up from a nightmare, gasping and trembling and feeling all-around like _crap._ So, he stumbles out of his room, like he’s had a little too much to drink (except he hasn’t because, ya know, Captain Spangles can’t get drunk), and heads straight to the kitchen.

“Hey, Steve.” Says a cheery voice, and Steve jumps in shock, turning to face the source of the sound. There’s Natasha and Tony seated on the couch, Natasha’s head in Tony’s lap and a beer bottle swinging from Tony’s right hand (Steve is troubled by this. Doesn’t Stark already have a girlfriend? Then he shrugs, passing it off. The new century is much different to what a little boy from Brooklyn, 1942, is used to).

 _Not drunk,_ Steve decides _, Stark’s only had one or two._

“Come join our little party. It’s fun. We don’t sleep at all.” And Steve doesn’t miss the little meaning hinted by the bitterness in the last sentence (we don’t sleep at all, ‘cause we can’t).

Steve sits down to join them, then cocks his head to one side when he sees a little flash of light out of the corner of his eye. “Um, Tony…?” He asks. “Where’d your beer go?”

Tony smirks and Natasha looks up to where the beer bottle was swinging from the billionaire’s hand a few moments ago.

Her eyebrows raise, like she _can’t believe him_ , then she laughs.

-

Bruce is headed down to the lab, but pauses momentarily when he spots Pepper give Tony a little peck on the lips. Tony’s hands snake around her waist, pulling her closer and burying his face in her neck.

She laughs, then pushes him off. “I have _meetings,_ Tony.” She says. “Meetings that _you_ should be coming to.”

Tony shrugs. “Potato, potahto. Tomato, tomahto.” He grumbles.

Bruce is about to laugh when Natasha comes down. “Stark!” She snaps, but there’s a certain humour in her voice. “You have _guests!”_

Tony cocks his head to one side. “Mm, who?”

Natasha raises her eyebrows, then turns to Bruce as if she’s saying ‘I know something you don’t’. But then she turns back to Stark and his girlfriend. “Some chick calling herself; Ororo Munroe.”

“Ah,” Tony gives Pepper a quick kiss on the cheek, then races upstairs.

Pepper rolls her eyes. “He’ll be excited about his one. Honestly, when _I_ buy him a new suit he gets all grumpy. When he gets one of his own, it’s all rather entertaining.”

When Tony comes back, he looks rather proud of himself and there’s a big box in his arms with a black ‘X’ stamped on the side. Bruce probably could have figured it out if he thought it was his problem, but he’s  also not that used to fashion lines, and figures that there are plenty of brands he’s probably never heard of.

(For someone who doesn’t really want people he doesn’t trust to know about the whole ‘mutant’ thing, Natasha can’t believe Tony’s so careless.)

-

Tony and Tasha are seated in the kitchen, two bottles of beer between them as they just sort of… sit. There’s not much to say, even though Tasha knows he’s a mutant now. So that makes three, if you don’t count the X-Men.

“So, I was talking to Fury today,” Natasha says hesitantly, after about fifteen more minutes of absolute silence. She gulps down a mouthful of beer, then wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. When Tony mutters assent, she purses her lips as if not sure how to proceed. “He says we have to collaborate with the X-Men on the next mission. At first it was supposed to be the Fantastic Four, but they got caught up with something else and… look, are you sure you’re going to be okay about it?”

Tony can’t do much more than stare in open-mouthed shock at her. No, he’s not okay. But, in another way, he kind of wants to see them all again. “Yeah, I…” He puts his head in his hands. “Who am I kidding? No, I’m not happy about it. But mostly I’m just worried about what I’ll do. I want to show up in my X-Men uniform. I want to fight with them. I mean, I’m not even actually an Avenger…. Please…. Do I even _want_ to be an Avenger? Maybe a little. But I want to just be in a world where _nobody_ cares that I’m a mutant or that I can blow shit up or even that I can control fire like it’s my own arm.”

Natasha raises her eyebrows. “You finished?” She asks playfully.

“Shut up.” Says Tony.

Natasha sticks her tongue out in a very un-Natasha-esque way, then laughs.

-

Professor Xavier wheels into the debrief room, four others following in his wake. The first that catches Clint’s eye is (surprisingly) _not_ one of the girls. Actually, it’s a guy with an odd visor over his eyes which is glowing a fierce red. He has a cold look on what Clint can see of the rest of his face, and his shaggy-ish brown hair is almost the same colour of Clint’s own.

The next, thankfully, is a woman.

No wonder she caught his eye, either, because she’s _stunning_. Not Natasha-stunning, but stunning, all the same (although maybe Clint’s just biased because he’s got a crush on Widow). Her hair is flaming red and flows down to just past her shoulders. She’s dressed in the same sort of leather outfit that Tasha wears, except hers is emblazoned with a big letter ‘X’.  

Then there’s a cold looking woman with long white hair. Not like old-granny-white hair (which is more grey, but, anyway), but pure snow-white hair. Her eyes are as cold as the rest of her demeanor, and actually kind of unnerving. Then there’s her cape, which would’ve been funny if it weren’t for her ‘scary-ness’ or ‘badass-ery’. Whatever. Clint can’t make himself look at her for too long, so he turns to the last guy in the room.

It’s a dude with totally _killer_ sideburns and a haircut that makes him look like he’s got ears or something. He looks wild, like he just hangs out with the X-Men because _screw-this_ and whatever else that makes a dude like him join a super-secret-order-of-mutated-humans.

“Logan,” says Sideburns, and it takes Clint a moment to register that he’s just introduced himself. “This is Jean, Ororo and Scott.” Then he scowls and shuts up, like he can’t believe he had to _talk_ to the Avengers.

Clint can see the expression on his face that is yelling; _ew!_

“Clint,” says Clint, cocking his head to one side. “This is Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Thor, an-” He doesn’t finish.

“Well, if it isn’t Tony Stark.” Ororo grins and everyone except Natasha and the Mutants look like they’re about to intervene and ask something real smart like how the hell Tony knows these people. Except then Ororo continues talking and everyone shuts up. “You tried _it_ yet?”

Tony shoots her a look as if to say _shut up!_ Then he shrugs and says something real intelligent to cover up whatever it is that Ororo almost let slip by saying; “What? The licorice ice-cream? It’s great, actually! Really, er, yum.” But he nods slightly as he says it, as though there’s a hidden message behind those words.

“Huh?” Ororo stares, then seems to get it. “Ah, oh, right. Yeah. Gotcha.”

She’s a horrible liar.

“Hey, bub.” Logan says after a moment of awkward silence.

Tony grins. “Hey, _pup_.”

Logan scowls.

Then Professor Xavier clears his throat. “Silence, please.” He says calmly. “We’re not here for cozy catchups. As you know, or maybe you don’t… anyway, Doctor Doom captured the Fantastic Four. We have to get them out. Um, except we can’t quite work out where they are. Anthony? And, er, Banner? We need you to pinpoint their position. We have to bust them out.”

Tony groans, like he has _way_ better things to do with his time.

From behind them, Fury clears his throat. “Magneto’s in on it.” He frowns. “That means Barton’s going to have to get arrows made of something different, Widow’s going to have to do without guns, Steve can’t have his shield and Stark can’t go out onto the field at all.”

Surprisingly, Tony doesn’t get shitty and indignant when he hears the news. No, he looks like he doesn’t care – and then smirks. And then Clint freaks out because _dude, where did Stark go?_

“Gotcha, Jackie.” Tony grins, then salutes mockingly and literally _skips_ out of the room.

Oh, wait, Stark’s back.


	4. I Had A Dream That Tony Killed Me (and it sucked)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Who are you?”
> 
> “Rogue. I’m a mutant.”
> 
> “Ri-ight.” Johnny doesn’t look like he much believes her, but decides not to say anything else on the matter. “Where are we?” He looks around at his surroundings. It’s dark, but when he lights up the tip of one of his fingers he has enough light to be able to gather his bearings. He appears to be in some sort of cell with, not bars, but metal walls all around. There are a few other shapes huddled in one corner, but Johnny’s not feeling particularly brave enough right now (that, and he can’t be bothered) to go and check it out.
> 
> “Don’t know.” Says Rogue. She sounds kind of troubled, and her brow is furrowed adorably across her face. “I just woke up here. Nobody else is responding. I…”
> 
> “Nobody else?” Johnny demands. “There are other people here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how I feel about this one, but the plot is certainly picking up!

Apparently, an angry Tony is a scary Tony. Funny how that had never crossed Ororo’s mind before. Also, fighting an angry Tony is even worse than watching someone else fight angry Tony, which is something Ororo had never fully appreciated before, er… now-ish.

The fire swirls around him like a fierce whirlwind and no matter how much the wind and rain flies around him, the fire stays just as strong as ever. In fact, the storm seems to make it stronger. And then, the more she fights, the more tired she gets. Tony seems to sense her exhaustion and slows his fire, but then his eyes lock on hers and glow gold like they do when he’s about to make something explode.

Her cape vanishes in a fierce hiss of licking flames, then her hair… then her eyes, and she’s screaming now in complete agony, and she’s completely blind. Blood gushes from where her left arm used to be and yet, through it all, Ororo finds herself thinking, _why is he not getting tired?_

Because that’s the problem with his abilities. He can only make a couple of things combust with just his eyes before he gets too tired to go on. If he has contact with the thing he combusts, it’s not so bad and it saps barely any of his energy… But he should’ve passed out by now and…

Ororo wakes up screaming. Lightning flashes outside and the whole tower (because the X-Men had crashed in Avengers Tower last night) seems to shake in the midst of the storm. With deep breaths, Ororo fights to calm her racing heart and slow the storm, but she’s much too worked up to do much at all.

“Hey.” Comes a very masculine voice from the corner of her room. It doesn’t do much to help her little panic attack and probably makes it worse because _there’s a dude in her room, for crying out loud!_ Then she turns and realizes that Scott’s sitting in the corner of her room on a rather plush looking couch. He’s got a book in his hands, not that he seems to be reading it, but, whatever.

“Hey,” she says, kind of awkwardly.

“Bad dream?”

“Tony killed me.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah.”

In fact, the whole conversation is awkward and short and just all around… yeah, awkward. She’s friends with the guy, but mostly he just hangs around Jean. Ororo can understand why Logan and Tony don’t like him, but she doesn’t understand why they _hate_ him so much.

“This is awkward.” Says Scott, like he’s reading her mind or something, and she jumps because she’d _kind of_ forgotten he’s even there. Oops.

“Hmm,” Ororo grunts, agreeing with the guy. Then she frowns. “Why the hell are you in here, anyways?”

Scott flushes bright red, then shrugs as if he wants to pass off the question. Except, then Ororo shoots him a totally exasperated look, and he succumbs. “I was worried,” he says. “You were moaning and crying in your sleep. I came in thinking that someone was hurting you, then couldn’t bring myself to wake you up and…”

“I was teasing,” says Ororo. “C’mon, let’s go say good morning.”

Scott raises his eyebrows. “Yeah, no.” He looks like he’s laughing at her, actually. “It’s, like, two in the morning.”

“Seriously?” Ororo groans. “Oh, whatever. I need hot chocolate. You gonna join me?”

Scott grins, then hops up and leads the way.

-

The two aren’t really sure what to expect when they get to the kitchen, just that they _weren’t_ expecting Natasha and Tony to already be there, just chatting. They’ve got their beer, which is actually a sort of tradition for them now. You know, chatting and sipping on beer, et cetera. It was on a night like this one when Natasha first found out about Tony’s mutant status.

“Ah, Tony…” Ororo mutters, her voice trailing off when she spots Natasha who had been playing ‘This Little Piggy’ on Tony’s hand, then stopped abruptly when company arrived.

“It’s okay,” says Tony, probably guessing why she looks kind of disappointed that Natasha’s there too. “She knows.”

Ororo looks surprised, but doesn’t say anything else on the matter. “And, who else?”

“Her, Rhodey and Pep.”

“Ah.” Says Scott, nodding slightly. He gets it, because if he were Tony and had to choose three people, that’s probably who he would’ve chosen, too (except instead of Tasha, he would’ve gone with Bruce).

“Hey.” Says Natasha. “You guys want a beer?”

“Yes.” Says Scott at the same time as Ororo says; “No, I want a hot chocolate.”

Natasha shrugs. “Your choice. You want me to make it for you?”

Ororo blushes. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah.” Natasha smiles wryly. “But, can you tell me one thing? What are your, er, abilities?” As she speaks, she gets up and heads to the bar, pulling out an ice-cold beer. Then she heads to the fridge and grunts in annoyance when she can’t see any milk.

“I can create storms.” Says Ororo. “Hence, my mutant name being; ‘Storm’.”

“Lasers from my eyes.” Says Scott bitterly. “That’s why I have to wear this visor. If not, you’d all be dead.”

Instead of looking scared, which is what Scott sort of expected, she looks impressed and a little… jealous. She’s tough, Black Widow, and though she’s all she’s got is her guns and ‘Ninja Skillz’ (as Tony has dubbed them) she’s not got any powers. Sucks, but she’s apparently good enough for the Avengers.

Natasha looks like she’s about to say something, but then Logan walks in, claws out and a hard look on his face. “Where is she?” He snaps, furious.

Tony stares. “Sorry, what?” He’s so surprised, he doesn’t even call Logan by his nickname. Which is, you know, weird and shit.

“They’ve got Rogue!” He moans. “I couldn’t… ugh! They have her Tony!”

Tony blinks, since he hasn’t heard his own name pass Logan’s lips for, like, _ever_ and _crap_ , he couldn’t remember it sounding like that. His gaze shifts warily to Logan’s claws, which he hasn’t seen for a few years now which is probably a good thing because, uh, claws = danger = angry Logan = scary Logan = kind-of-not-really-scared-Tony.

“Huh,” muses Natasha, not looking scared in the slightest as she pulls the cocoa out of the cupboard, then decides to have another look in the fridge for the milk. “Claws. Pup. I _get it_.” She pulls out a cup with a Black Widow spider on it and the words ‘KICK ASS’ in red across the back and pours the milk in it.

“Who has Rogue?” Tony demands. He’s met Rogue, once or twice during his occasional trips to the school.

“Magneto took Rogue, Tony!”

“No, he didn’t.” Tony snaps. “He doesn’t have Rogue. You were dreaming, Logan.” Except, Tony sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself than anyone else which doesn’t do all that much for Logan’s frantic state.

“It wasn’t just a dream!” Logan snarls. “He has her!”

-

When Johnny Storm wakes up, it’s because someone’s dumped a bucket of ice-cold water on his head. His eyes snap open and he bolts upright, a strangled scream escaping his lips, which is muffled by a gloved hand over his mouth.

“Shut up!” Says the gloved person (or ‘Gloves’ as Johnny is now dubbing her).

“Mmph!” Says Johnny.

“Shut up!” Gloves snaps again, then frowns and bends right down over him. There’s a pale blonde streak in her otherwise brown hair, and she looks young – younger than him, at least. That’s probably why Johnny decides not to torch her then and there. “Who are you?” She takes her hand away from his mouth so he can answer.

“Johnny Storm. I…” He frowns. What’s the point of asking someone to shut up, only to ask them shit? “Fantastic Four… Human Torch?”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

“Who are you?”

“Rogue. I’m a mutant.”

“Ri-ight.” Johnny doesn’t look like he much believes her, but decides not to say anything else on the matter. “Where are we?” He looks around at his surroundings. It’s dark, but when he lights up the tip of one of his fingers he has enough light to be able to gather his bearings. He appears to be in some sort of cell with, not bars, but metal walls all around. There are a few other shapes huddled in one corner, but Johnny’s not feeling particularly brave enough right now (that, and he can’t be bothered) to go and check it out.

“Don’t know.” Says Gloves-Rogue. She sounds kind of troubled, and her brow is furrowed adorably across her face. “I just woke up here. Nobody else is responding. I…”

“Nobody else?” Johnny demands. “There are other people here?”

“I figure they’re the other three of your little gang.” Says Rogue and Johnny perks up.

“They’re here?” He asks hopefully.

“Is that supposed to be a good thing?” Rogue hisses. “How does that mean _we’ll_ be getting out of here?”

-

“Not only the Fantastic Four…”

“…apparently _her_ …”

“Rogue, Professor!”

“Oi, Nicky! They _have Rogue!_ ”

“Logan reckons he saw…”

Professor Xavier holds up a hand. “Hold up!” He demands. “One at a time, please. What did Logan see?”

Logan shifts on his feet. “I, well, it was a dream.” He says uncertainly. “Magneto has Rogue. I don’t know how but…”

Charles looks slightly miffed. “Great.” He mutters. “That means they have another telepath. That’s the only way I can think of that they’d be able to put an image like that in your head, Logan.” He wheels over to Logan and gestures for him to sit. Then, he places a couple of fingers on his temple and raises his eyebrows in question at Wolverine.

“Go ahead,” says Logan, stiffly.

-

_Erik’s walking through the large metallic doors of what looks like a sort of cell. The second he gets inside, he looks around and then cocks his head interestedly to one side. Susan, Reed and Ben are still knocked out, but Johnny’s in the middle, glowing enough to illuminate the whole cell._

_“Hello, Mister Storm.” Says Erik, grinning slightly. “Hello Rogue.” He adds, spotting the girl who is kneeling at Johnny’s side and warming her hands in the flame. Her gloves were discarded at her feet and her hair was a scruffy mess._

_“You!” Says Storm, eyes wide in shock. “Magneto!”_

_“Oh, I’ve heard of you.” Says Johnny with interest. “Um, hi? Nice, er, helmet? Kind of look like a prat wearing it, but, eh.”_

_Erik laughs softly. “I’m glad you like it.”_

_“I don’t.” Says Johnny. “I said I think you look like a prat. Okay. Can I go now?”_

_“No.”_

-

Charles gasps as he takes his fingers from his temple. He shakes his head as if to clear what he’s just seen, like it’ll just make it better. It won’t, but Charles likes to pretend it will. His eyes meet with everyone else’s in turn and then they finally meet with Tony’s. He nods slightly at the billionaire, and he swallows but then nods hesitantly in response.

“It’s time,” says Charles, more to Tony than anyone else. “I think I know where he’s keeping them.”


	5. He's Warming Her Up But She's Not Burning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "She means, that I already knew about Hydra long before it happened. You know how I liked hacking S.H.I.E.L.D. The amount of unauthorized, encrypted communication lines I listened in on was kind of astounding. ‘Hail Hydra’ this and ‘Hail Hydra’ that. It was almost laughable. I mean, a secret agency inside another secret agency?” Tony strides into the room and turns to face Maria with a bright smile which doesn’t at all match his eyes. “Hello, Hill.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the wait. But, anyway, here ya go!

Everyone leaves without him.

Steve. Natasha. Clint. Bruce. Thor. Jean. Scott. Charles. Ororo. Rogue… and even _Logan,_ whose body is practically _metal_.

What surprises the Avengers (minus Tasha who knows) and, you know, Fury and even _Hill,_ is that Tony doesn’t even seem to care. He waves them off cheerily, a bright grin on his face like; ‘ _ha, ha, suckers! Go have fun dying._ ’ Except it doesn’t really mean that, of course, because he’ll be shadowing them and he _will_ intervene if they need it.

The moment they all leave Stark Mansion, Tony shuts the front door and then races down to his bedroom, rummaging through his drawers for the latest suit.

Only, this time? It’s not a titanium gold alloy suit, nor is it a business suit.

For the first time, Tony feels like it’s the _right_ time to don the _X-Men_ suit.

-

Tony lands on the ground outside of an abandoned warehouse, the fire vanishing from behind him as he lands heavily on the ground. From his position behind a tall chain-link fence, he can see the entrance, a heavily vandalized door, bolted with about three different locks.

Even despite the crudely written graffiti on the side of the building ( _Fuck off. Intruderz die!)_ , the Avengers and X-Men march toward the building like nobody’s business.

 _Tony,_ comes a voice in Tony’s mind – and he’s pretty sure it’s Charles since, you know, it _sounds_ like Charles. _I told the X-Men and Natasha you’re shadowing us. How far away are you?_

_I’m looking right at you._

_Thought so._

Tony laughs out loud, then muffles it with his hand just in case anyone overhears. He crouches low and peers behind a bush, watching as Cap slams his shield into the door and sends it crashing to the ground. Tony just winces, since, you know, that could’ve been done _way_ quieter than it was.

He pulls up the hood that Charles had built into his suit in case he wanted to keep his identity hidden, then, once the X-Avengers (as Tony is now calling them) are inside, Tony scales the fence as fast as he can and leaps down the other side – lithe as a cat.

He, too, ducks inside the warehouse and stalks after them, not so close as to arouse suspicion, but close enough that he can hear what they’re saying. Not that they say much, of course, because they _are_ actually trying to keep stealthy and whatever.

Tony thinks it’s odd that they all got sent in, but figures it was probably necessary if this Magneto guy is as powerful as he sounds.

Then, Tony bumps something on the ground (except he’s _totally_ not sure what) and everyone spins around. Clint goes; “What was that?” In a sort of stage whisper, only for Natasha to tug on his arm.

“It’s nothing!” She hisses. “Just keep moving.”

This time it’s Steve who stops them. “Who are you and what have you done to Natasha Romanoff?” He snaps. “We should check that out in case we’ve got a tail.”

Tony jumps and then thinks; _shit_. Because they’re just going to come marching right into his little hidey-hole which isn’t so much a hidey-hole as it is behind a wall.

 _Anthony._ Says Charles in his mind. _Just stay still. I’ll make sure they don’t see you._

_Okay. Sure. Don’t screw up._

_Have a little faith._ Tony can hear the amusement in his voice.

When Steve rounds the corner, shield out in front, Tony stiffens and double checks to make sure that his hood is fully covering his face. He shouldn’t have worried, anyway, because Charles does his job well and Steve, Bruce, Clint and Thor look right through him as though he’s not even there.

Logan merely rolls his eyes, and Natasha nods sharply at him. Tony grins back.

-

Rogue yelps in shock as Mystique’s heel collides with Johnny’s stomach. “ _Back off of him!”_ Rogue is screaming and pleading in her terror, hands over her mouth as she watches Johnny get beaten again and again. Mystique and Magneto are covered from head to toe in fire-proof gear, which also means that Rogue can’t grab either of them – both of their abilities are useless. Magneto’s had the other Fantastic Four members trussed up, but they’re still unconscious anyway. Rogue is hoping that Reed will get out and stretch his way out of his bonds. But, for now, they’re alone.

“Not until he gives me what I want!” Magneto snarls, and gestures for Mystique to continue. She happily obliges with another harsh kick to Johnny’s stomach which sends him gagging and yelling in pain. He’s flickering and flaming, but none of it is doing much to Mystique. She’s sweating a little, because Johnny’s warming her up, but she’s not burning.

“Which is?” Rogue is indignant.

Mystique kicks Johnny again. He looks like he wants to say something, but probably reckons that, if he does, he’ll spew everywhere. Which, you know, he probably will – it’s certainly not something that Rogue wants to see. Unless, of course, he showers Mystique or Magneto with his chuck – that would be amusing.

“He knows a certain little something about Reed’s newest project. Unfortunately, Mister Richards is still…” He pauses, as though trying to think of an appropriate word to use right now, which is probably hard for someone with his lack of brain power and… et cetera. “Unconscious, for lack of a better word, so we cannot get anything from _him_ …”

He gestures for Mystique to continue but, just before she gets another kick in, a dark skinned guy with a clean-shaven face walks in, his eyes wide. “Get them out!” He hisses. “We have to leave. The Avengers, plus some of their new mutant buddies… they’re coming.”

-

The X-Avengers storm through the corridors. Charles knows that they’ve been found out now, anyway, so they figure speed is better than stealth at this point. Tony’s still following, not far behind, and his feet are making sparks fly against the cold stone floor.

“In there!” Steve yells, pointing to a heavily padlocked door. He’s about to smash it open with his shield, but it suddenly glows red hot and snaps open. He jumps back in surprise. “Did you see…?”

“Yeah,” says Logan, gruffly. Inconspicuously, he shoves the middle finger up at Tony behind his back. Tony tries not to snort out loud in response and ends up letting out a little squeak of amusement. That little bit of long distance work he just did already has him drained, and he’s kind of regretting it now. “I saw. Someone else did your own bloody job for you. Now, hurry the fuck up – you’re holding up the motherfucking queue. We don’t get in there before Magneto and his little dick-wad friends, and I shove a fucking stick up your ass.”

Steve stares at him for a long moment until Logan starts tapping his foot, and they all march through the doors. The cell is there, where Charles says he saw the Fantastic Four and Rogue being held. But… they’re all gone.

“Told ya, dipshit.” Says Logan irritably to Steve. “We missed them ‘cause you’re a fucking moron.”

Steve scowls. “Look, I…”

“Save it, bub.” Logan scowls. “We missed them.”

-

“S.H.I.E.L.D has fallen.”

“Unsurprising,” says Pepper, looking right at Maria, hands laced in her lap as she gazes with interest at the ex-agent.

Maria’s at Stark Industries for a job interview. After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D, she needed a job and a way to… escape. Tony has lawyers, job openings that she knew he would keep just for her. She knew the job would be stable, which is why she’s here in the first place. Pepper had wanted to conduct the interview, but Tony insisted on attending, so…

It’s not that it was out of Tony’s way or anything, since he’d just gotten back from shadowing the X-Avengers and their failed mission.

“In what way?” Maria would probably look surprised if she wasn’t so good at hiding emotions. Life as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D had obviously made her good at it, and that training was obviously put to use at times like these.

“She means, that I already knew about Hydra long before it happened. You know how I liked hacking S.H.I.E.L.D. The amount of unauthorized, encrypted communication lines I listened in on was kind of astounding. ‘Hail Hydra’ this and ‘Hail Hydra’ that. It was almost laughable.  I mean, a secret agency inside another secret agency?” Tony strides into the room and turns to face Maria with a bright smile which doesn’t at all match his eyes. “Hello, Hill.”

“Hello, Stark.” Maria frowns. The expression on her face is almost akin to fury. “Why… Why the hell didn’t you say anything, Stark?”

“What did S.H.I.E.L.D ever do for me?” Tony looks almost gleeful, which is only a mask – Pepper knows this. Behind that mask of glee is, in fact, so much anger and betrayal… it’s inhumane. “I’m not recommended, remember?”

“I thought you and Romanoff were friends now?” Maria’s tone is slightly accusing, and Tony feels himself stiffening in defense. The palms of his hands grow hot, and he has to fight to keep it under control.

“We are.” Tony growls, through gritted teeth. Pepper would intervene about now, but she knows (or, hopes) that he’s got his mutation under wraps and, if need be… Pep has tranquilizer darts in her bag (for Maria – in case she witnesses shit going down).

Pepper has a tendency to come prepared. The woman’s a genius – maybe not in terms of IQ, but in many ways, she’s _way_ more intelligent than Stark.

“Then, why…?” Maria looks slightly bewildered as well as angry. Not that anybody could blame her – Tony’s been a jerk, no doubt about it.

“She was just doing her job.” And, Maria wants to snap back how _everyone is just doing their freaking job, and if it pisses Tony off so much, then he can go stab a green-grocer in the back._

But she doesn’t, and so settles with; “So were the rest of us.” Which sends the same message, just not so violently.

“Nobody else said sorry, did they?” Tony snaps. He sits down beside Pepper and leans back on his sleek, white chair. His eyes are colder, perhaps even colder than Maria remembers from Coulson’s ‘death’.

Maria is lost for words.

-

Maria gets the job, anyway. Together, she, Pepper and Tony are working on privatizing world peace. Its working – somewhat.

-

Tony knows that Maria doesn’t much like to flaunt her job at Stark Industries. Something about S.H.I.E.L.D agents thinking of her job with him as a betrayal? Oh well, they can go rot in prison – he’s got Hill’s back.

The Avengers don’t even know she works for him – it’s only Pepper and a bunch of ex-S.H.I.E.L.D agents. Not that they’re not about to find out anyway, because they’re all eating dinner, Logan still mouthing off at Cap about their miss earlier, when Maria walks in with a stack of papers.

“You need to sign here, Stark.” Says Maria, then whispers something in his ear that nobody else hears. But, Tony does – and he’s certainly troubled by what it is.

_“I know you’re hiding something from me.”_

Tony scowls in response. “Not here, Maria.”

“You work for him, now?” Because Natasha can easily put two and two together – she’s not an _idiot_.

In response, Maria smiles wryly and says something a little like; “Unfortunately.”

Clint spits out whatever’s in his mouth which doesn’t look much like what it did when it got served up. No, now it’s more like green and brown mushy stuff which has Maria wrinkling her nose in disgust. “You work for Stark?” He demands, then laughs disbelievingly. “Can’t see you working for a jackass like him.”

Tony’s eyes narrow and, even though he knows Clint is only half joking, he feels his palms grow red hot.

Maria shrugs and sits down beside Tony. “Funny how things work out, isn’t it?”


	6. Your Name Is Going To Become Very Familiar With A Gravestone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is it.” Says Fury, snappishly. “You don’t succeed even a little bit this time and I’ll bench you all.”
> 
> “Um. Yeah.” Tony rolls his eyes. “You can’t bench me since I have no hope against Magneto and I won’t be going. Even without the suit… I mean – hello. Giant metal thing embedded in my chest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the extremely late update. However, I think they all might be coming out that far apart from each other in future - sorry.

Natasha takes a long swig of her beer, than rolls the dice. Her Monopoly figurine lands on _Free Parking_ and she scoops up all the tax dollars in the centre of the board with a flourish. “Suck it,” she says triumphantly.

Tony growls, then flops back on the couch as he rolls a five – causing him to land on Natasha’s multi-million dollar property. “I give _up_.” He groans, kicking the table with his foot and sending the whole game crashing to the ground.

“Sore loser.” Natasha points out, looking mildly amused. “You’re cleaning all that up, by the way. Don’t expect me to do it for you.” She pops an orange gummy bear into her mouth from the half-empty bag in her hand and chews it loudly.

“That’s…” Tony frowns. “…totally not fair. You played too.” He reaches toward Natasha and makes a mad grab for the gummy bears but misses by a long shot.

“And you had a tantrum.” Natasha says bluntly, throwing a green gummy at Tony and whooping in triumph as it lands in his semi-open mouth.

The sound of heavy footsteps reaches their ears and they both spin around. Logan is heading toward them, eyebrows raised with interest as he inspects the mess that was previously a neatly set out game of Monopoly. He lets out a grunt, like he hardly expected anything else to come out of a Monopoly game between Natasha and Tony, then walks toward the fridge and pulls out the first beer he can find.

“Of course he had a tantrum,” says Logan with a snort, as he cracks open the lid of his beer. “He’s Tony Stark, isn’t he?”

“Mmhm,” Natasha stands up and smoothens down her black pants. “He most certainly is.”

“Speaking about things that he _is_.” Logan looks pointedly at the genius who has started to clean up the scattered Monopoly pieces. He’s grunting as he tries to reach one under the couch, and Natasha is trying hard not to laugh. “When are you going to come out?”

“Stark’s gay?” Comes Clint’s shocked voice from the corner.

Tony groans in resignation, but then says; “only for you, Legolas.”  

Clint stares at Tony in horror. “Look, dude…” He shakes his head. “I mean… I’m totally straight so…”

“Yes,” Tony grumbles. “And you have a crush on Nat. That’s old news. _No_ I am _not_ gay for you. Logan…”-the billionaire scowls pointedly at Logan and draws a finger across his throat in warning-“… is talking about something different entirely.”

Logan sits down at a bar stool and shrugs innocently, before taking another sip of his beer. Clint looks toward him in confusion, only for Logan to roll his eyes and pull a cigar out of his pocket.

“Uh-uh,” Tony huffs. “No smoking that crap in my tower. You want to smoke inside? Go visit Justin Hammer in his jail cell.”

“Gladly.” Logan grumbles irritably.

“That,” says Clint, pointing at Logan. “Is creepy. Like, I dunno if you’re scary because of your accent, or if it’s the thought of your claws coming out and slicing me into ribbons or whatever, but you’re creepy.”

Logan raises his eyebrows and Clint shuts up. “Was there a reason why you came in here in the first place, bub?” He snaps.

“Yea-ah…?” Clint mutters, tapping a finger on his head as if deep in thought. “Oh. Yeah. There was. Fury said something about Charles finding a new location? And that apparently Susan’s awake too. Um… he wants us to go in for a meeting in the Stark Tower R&D department, since that was the only free place for us to go... Yeah.”

-

“This is it.” Says Fury, snappishly. “You don’t succeed even a little bit this time and I’ll bench you all.”

“Um. Yeah.” Tony rolls his eyes. “You can’t bench me since I have no hope against Magneto and I won’t be going. Even without the suit… I mean – _hello._ Giant metal thing embedded in my chest.”

Steve stares at his chest, where the little circle of blue light is glowing prominently through his dark Black Sabbath t-shirt. “Just take it out.” He says, because he _obviously_ doesn’t understand the importance of the arc reactor.

Tony stares. “ _Take it out?”_ He snaps viciously. He stands up and huffs loudly, then turns around and marches out of the room. “Take it out, my _ass_.” He yells over his shoulder.

Once he’s gone, the atmosphere of the room changes completely. Nobody says all that much, until Ororo rolls her eyes in disgust. “Come _on_.” She snorts. “Don’t you know that the arc reactor keeps him _alive_?”

Steve says nothing.

Bruce stands up, all in a rush, and dashes out to find Stark.

-

It isn’t that surprising that Bruce found Tony in his lab. What was surprising, for Bruce at least, was what happened when he got inside the lab. For there, in the middle of the room, is Tony. Except, he’s not standing on the ground, and nor is he smashing the life out of his latest project. He’s held a foot above the ground in a searing cloud of fire and it makes Bruce take a wary step back.

“Um… _Tony_?” He murmurs, because it’s not like he can say much else in this sort of situation. Really, though, he just found his friend hovering a foot above the ground amidst searing hot fire. What is he supposed to say to that?

Tony doesn’t say anything, just huffs angrily and spins around, still hovering. He folds his arms across his chest and fixes Bruce with a challenging stare. He grins wickedly, and focuses on the nearest chunk of metal, blowing it to smithereens. However, even that small effort seems to cost him at this point, and his flames die down and he collapses heavily on the ground.

“What?” He coughs, after he catches his breath. “Come to ask me to kill myself too?”

Bruce doesn’t know what to say. “No.” He fights to control his heart rate and is internally begging the Hulk to stay away. “I… Steve didn’t know, Tony.”

“There’s a lot of things that Steve doesn’t know.” Tony huffs.

“And a lot of things I don’t know – apparently.” Bruce gestures almost helplessly at Tony. “What even… I don’t get how…”

“I’m a mutant.” Says Tony bluntly. “There ya go. That’s how I know the X-Men. Why Logan and Ororo are two of my best friends…”

“Yeah…” Bruce shakes his head, still in shock.

Tony laughs. “Ah, your reaction is much better than Nat’s was.”

“She knows?” Asks Bruce, feeling almost disappointed. “And I suppose Pepper does too.”

Tony doesn’t reply, just stands up and walks forward. He grasps Bruce’s hand with his own and shakes it firmly. “I’m Hellfire – but you can call me Hell.”

-

“Tony isn’t joining us.” Says Bruce, once he and Tony are back in the vicinity of the X-Avengers and Fury, as well as Maria.

“No, I’ve decided to sit this one out.”

Charles frowns. “If you’re not coming, then I’ll need to alert one of my other mutants to join us.” He looks pointedly at Tony as he speaks, and Tony nods sharply in response. _You’ll come with us this time. No point hiding if they know you’re coming._

_Yeah. Okay. Also, Bruce knows too. Saw me venting._

_I did figure as much, Anthony._

-

Turns out, the destination this time is… well, it’s exactly the same place. Evidently, Magneto thought that this place would not have been their first choice, and that it was the perfect place to go if they didn’t want to be found by the X-Avengers. So Rogue and the Fantastic Four are still there. As is Magneto. Doctor Doom on the other hand, was a man that Charles couldn’t get a read on. Perhaps he wasn’t there – which was slightly worrying.

They make their way to where they got to last time, except they’ve been much quieter and Charles has done much better in the way of keeping them hidden. So, when Tony, or _Hell_ , pops the lock on the door that everyone’s pretty sure will lead to the room where the Fantastic Four is being kept. Logan is trying not to show it, but everyone can sense him getting antsy by the minute. He’s obviously impatient to find Rogue.

“So, what’s the deal with this Rogue chick anyway?” Asks Clint, in a hushed tone as they dash into the room. “Is she dating Logan or something?”

Tony almost dies of laughter at that comment, but holds it in. “No. She’s a teen. She also has a boyfriend.” He says, as gruffly as possible.

“Oh.” Says Clint, slowly. “Right.”

Tony adjusts the hood over his face, then turns around – only to find himself nose-to-nose with Magneto.

The man is standing there all in his creepy-ass glory. His helmet is slightly crooked on his head, but still has that air of power about it. His cape is down his back, kind of reminding Tony of Superman, but he decides to keep that to himself. There’s an odd look in his eyes, one that tells Tony everything that he needs to know.

Magneto knows _exactly_ who he is.

Tony steps backward, eyes widening slightly. On instinct, he covers the arc reactor with his right hand and swallows nervously. All he can think is; _Obie… Obadiah. Obie. Obadiah. Arc reactor. Gone. Pain. Terrible. Dying._  

His palms heat up at the very thought.

“Hello.” Says Magneto, slowly. “Come to join our cause?” It’s a question, one to which he knows they will have no other answer but ‘no’.

“No.” Says Tony, not to Magneto’s surprise. “We’ve come to retrieve something that you stole.”

“The girl?” Magneto laughs. “I _do_ think the Wolverine is a little bit old for her.”

“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand, _bub_.” Logan hisses.

“ _Enough_.” Says Magneto, and points a stern finger at Logan. He freezes right where he is, the Adamantium in his system totally under Magneto’s power. With a slow and lazy flick of his wrist, Magneto sends Logan flying into the ceiling. “Anyone else?”

Clint scowls. “Yeah.” He aims an arrow directly at Magneto’s chest. “This? All wood. Good luck.”

For a moment, the metal bender falters. Then, he laughs. “You wouldn’t.”

“Um… why?”

“Because,” says Magneto. “You wouldn’t.” And, apparently, there is no explanation needed. Tony knows what he is talking about. He’s heard rumours – rumours that the man standing before him has killed a man using just the iron in his blood. Clint could try to shoot him, but Magneto would surely kill him first.

“Don’t, Clint.” Says Tony, shortly. He looks up and stares directly at Magneto. “He’ll kill you.”

“Yes,” says Magneto, almost cheerfully. “With you, see, I don’t have to worry about spilling any precious mutant blood. “I would kill all of you except for Banner. And… well…”

“Erik.” Charles says slowly, wheeling forward. “Not to him.”

Magneto turns to look at Tony. “But… Hellfire has a name, Charles. He has a name that the world ought to know.”

 _The world already knows it_. Charles says in Magneto’s mind. To be fair, he’s right about _that one_.

 “And if you say it,” says Tony harshly. “Your name is going to become very familiar with a gravestone.”

“Then let it become so.” Magneto looks like he wants to laugh. His hand ghosts over Tony’s chest – right where the arc reactor rests. There is a sharp tug, and Tony feels the material of his suit tear.

_When I, uh…. Ordered that hit on you. I worried that I was killing the golden goose. But, you see. It was just fate that you survived that. You had one last golden egg to give._

_You don’t think that just because you have an idea it belongs to you?_

He shakes his head to clear it. _Don’t think of Obadiah. Don’t… don’t think…_

“Tony?” Steve is the first to react. His eyes widen in shock as the arc reactor clips free and lands gracefully in Magneto’s palm.


	7. They Can't Break My Heart If I Don't Have One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Nat knew, Pep knew, Rhodey knew and the X-Men knew. Bruce knew too, but he only found out today.”
> 
> “Yesterday.” Says Bruce, flicking the page on Pepper’s Frankie magazine. Unfortunately for him, that was the only magazine anyone had in the room, so he’d settled for reading it anyways; no matter how much Clint laughed at his feminism (“What the hell is wrong with being feminist?” Natasha had snarled).
> 
> “What?” Tony looks at Bruce like he’s mental. “No, it was today. I swear it was, ‘cause it was just before we left to go to get the Fab Four and Rogue.”
> 
> “Yesterday, Tony.” Says Pepper, softly. “You’ve been out for nineteen hours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not sure how i feel about this one... but, anyway.

Since Obadiah, Tony had learned that the best way _not_ to get your heart broken was to pretend not to have one. He’s narcissistic, a pain in the ass, and can’t seem to be in the same room for anyone much more than… well, it generally depends on said person’s tolerance. Only Pepper, Natasha and a select few individuals seem to be able to see the heart behind the arc (and, in Tony’s case it’s much easier than the average person to pretend that he doesn’t have a heart – without his arc reactor, his heart would be screwed anyway).

Now, he’s coming to the painful realization that his heart is _very, very real_. His breath is becoming short, and he can almost feel the shrapnel making its steady way into his heart. “ _Please_ ,” he hisses. He can barely think properly; his only instinct is to get the arc back. Get it back inside his chest. Get it….

He lunges forward, clumsily and messily. He lands with a thump on top of Magneto (and it is only Charles’ willpower holding everyone back), who evidently wasn’t expecting him to take action and is startled out of his concentration. The arc falls to the ground and lands with a thud on Tony’s back. Tony, however, is much too frantic to even notice it; his breathing is shallow and now is one of those moments when he realizes that his genius isn’t going to be enough in a situation like this.

Ororo, however, ignores all of this completely. She takes one look at Tony scrabbling on top of Magneto, fingers closed around the other man’s throat, and knows that he’s not going to last much longer and soon Erik is going to gather his wits again. “Let me go, Professor,” she says urgently. “I have an idea, but I have to get over there,” she gazes to the cell in the corner of the room, rushes toward it, and picks up a key card from the table in front of it. She takes one look at Rogue, and nods firmly. Charles, who has complete faith in her, stays where he is. All of his concentration is poured into keeping everyone else still and out of the way.

The sound of an electronic cell door being unlocked is heard and then Rogue, Johnny and Susan are running out. The Thing and Mister Fantastic are still out cold, but Ororo knows she can get them out later. Right now, Tony is losing strength. He probably would’ve faltered a long time ago if he hadn’t been so desperate to get his reactor back.

The second she is released, Rogue knows exactly what to do. She peels off her gloves as she races toward Magneto, fingers outstretched. She hates this, a lot, but realizes that the safety of Stark is more important at the moment than the man who is trying to kill him and everyone else who stands against him and his cause.

Rogue realizes, too, that her timing is essential. Not too late, of course, because she doesn’t want Magneto to regain concentration and to use his mutation against Stark. But, she also doesn’t want Tony to come to his senses and blow Magneto into oblivion. No matter how much she hates the metal bender, she’d never wish that sort of death upon anyone.

She bends down, and then presses a forefinger to Magneto’s jaw, once of the only sections of flesh actually open. She closes her eyes and feels his power slowly rushing through her and winces inwardly at the colour which is quickly draining from the metal bender’s face. Then, she spins around, finger still held to Magneto’s flesh. She concentrates on the arc and pushes Tony off Magneto, exposing his open chest. The arc reactor lifts off the ground and slots neatly into Tony’s chest, causing him to jolt in shock. His eyes open wide and he arches off the ground with a yell; eyes glowing a fiery gold.

Quickly, Rogue draws her finger off of Magneto, freeing him – but the man is still incredibly weakened and Rogue knows that he’ll have to get medical treatment if he wants to survive. Tony, with his chest still heaving and his eyes drooping in exhaustion and from the sharp pain in his chest, uses his last ounce of strength to reach over and grasp Magneto’s helmet. The helmet explodes, and Magneto lets out a yelp of pain from the heat and force of the blast. Tony can’t allow himself to feel any remorse.

Then, Tony allows his eyes to close, and drifts off to unconsciousness.

 -

When Tony awakens, he’s lying in a hospital bed and all he really wants to do is scream. Which, he would’ve done if the first thing he’d seen _hadn’t_ been Pepper. She’s seated right beside him, hand caressing his hair and the other flicking through a book. Tony’s brain is too foggy right now to work out what the hell the book is, so he settles for clumsily fumbling for the back of her head and pulling her in for a chaste kiss.

“Hey, Mister Stark.” Pepper mumbles, snorting with laughter.

“Hello, Miss Potts.” Tony grins and tries to sit up slightly.

“We have an audience.” Pepper points out.

“That’s…” Tony looks up and then groans when the first thing he seen is the ugliest f***cking eye he’s ever seen in his life. “Holy shit. That’s… ever heard of an eye patch?”

Fury straightens up and steps away from Tony’s bedside. “Hello, Sleeping Beauty.” He grunts. “When you and Prince Charming are done, we have things to discuss.”

“I resent that, actually, since _I’m_ the guy in this relationship.” Tony points an accusatory finger at the ex-SHIELD director.

“Duh,” Pepper mutters.

“Hi,” interrupts Steve, innocently from the corner. His brow is furrowed. “How are you fee-?”

“Screw that!” Clint snaps, looking slightly offended. “How the bloody hell could you even think for _one moment_ that we’d care that you’re a mutant… or… or even think of you differently? Because if that’s not why you didn’t tell us about that shit, then I really, _really_ don’t get it.”

Tony stares. “When the hell did you find out?” He snaps, almost outraged. Obviously, he doesn’t remember much about the mission “Did Nat tell you? ‘Cause…”

“Lady Natasha was aware of your predicament?” Thor queries, looking almost offended. He turns to Natasha who is sitting on a straw chair in the corner and folding her arms with an almost smug look on her face.

“Uh, duh?” Tony raises his eyebrows. “Nat knew, Pep knew, Rhodey knew and the X-Men knew. Bruce knew too, but he only found out today.”

“Yesterday.” Says Bruce, flicking the page on Pepper’s _Frankie_ magazine. Unfortunately for him, that was the only magazine anyone had in the room, so he’d settled for reading it anyways; no matter how much Clint laughed at his _feminism_ (“What the hell is wrong with being feminist?” Natasha had snarled).

“What?” Tony looks at Bruce like he’s mental. “No, it was today. I swear it was, ‘cause it was just before we left to go to get the Fab Four and Rogue.”

“Yesterday, Tony.” Says Pepper, softly. “You’ve been out for nineteen hours.”

That didn’t make sense. “Then why the hell is everyone still in here?” Tony shakes his head. “Never mind. I just… will someone tell me what happened after I blacked out? And maybe a bit before? Everything’s still a bit… fuzzy.”

“I will,” Clint volunteers. Then, he points an accusatory finger at Tony. “Only, though, if you promise to explain your whole, mutant situation.”

“Nothing to tell.” Says Tony, waving a hand dismissively and snaking the other around Pepper’s waist. . “Technically I’m a member of the X-Men. I’m a pyro and I make shit explode. The end.”

Clint stares. “You are going to demonstrate later,” he decides. “A-nyway… So, Magneto came around, stole your arc, Rogue used her powers, got you the reactor back, you destroyed Magneto’s helmet thing, we took Magneto for medical treatment and then into custody, saved the Fantastic Four and Rogue… but still have Doctor Doom to worry about.” Clint takes a deep breath and then smiles wickedly at Tony.

Tony can’t do anything else but stare and try to work out what the hell was just said to him.

-

Clint pops a piece of popcorn in his mouth and leans back in his chair. Natasha glares at him like she _can’t believe_ he’s getting a kick out of mutants battling it out in the grounds of Charles’ mansion, but Clint is more amazed that Tony isn’t actually helpless without his suit and his genius.

The billionaire faces Logan off, and Ororo, Jean and Scott stand on the side, ready to pick sides once the battle begins. Logan’s claws slide out, and Tony grins at him flirtatiously, then laughs when Logan merely looks disgusted.

“Save that look for your girlfriend, bub.” Logan growls, then dashes forward and aims a slash at Tony’s mid-section.

Tony blasts upward in a burst of fire, and retaliates with a short blast of flames in an attempt to singe the tips of Logan’s hair. “Sure thing, puppy dog.” He shoots a false grin Logan’s way and then darts down and grips Logan’s jacket, causing it to vanish in a puff of smoke and flames. “Sorry!” He hoots.

“You jerk,” Logan says, miffed. He allows himself one forlorn look at where his favourite jacket used to be, and then slashes upward, making a large gash in Tony’s left bicep. The genius winces in pain, and then uses a blast of fire to singe Logan’s hair.

“I’m joining Tony,” Scott announces. “If he gets rid of my visor, we’re all screwed.”

Ororo shrugs, then strides toward Logan. “Looks like we’re a team then, Wolverine.”

Jean opens her mouth to say something, but is cut off by the loud hoot of a siren.

 _“Doctor Doom has entered the premises._ ” Comes a loud voice from the PA system, and effectively sends everyone into a terrified sort of panic.


	8. Totally Not A Drill. At All.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Reed never dared to do this sort of research on a computer. Too dangerous if it ever got hacked, and…” Charles smiles. “…he never had the brilliance in engineering and electronics to make a JARVIS of his very own. On the other hand… sciences are his specialty. He created a sort of drug that could induce nightmares upon people.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm pretty sure this is much better than the last. anyway. please leave a comment and tell me what you think.

So, Tony’s like, ninety-nine percent sure that this is not a drill. Like, _almost_ one-hundred percent sure. But not quite. You know?

Anyway.

So his first clue, is the blatantly obvious: _This is_ not _a drill._ Which quickly follows the whole ominous ‘Doctor Doom’ message. His second clue is that everyone’s screaming and actively prepping for battle. His third? There’s a Doom-Bot crashing through the doors right now, and everyone is flipping their shit. Except Tony. Psh, no.

“ _Oh my Holy Freaking God it’s a freaking Doom-Bot!”_ Says Johnny, but he’s laughing as he says it. Shit-stirrer, that one.

 _“What the flipping shit is a Doom-Bot?”_ Clint yells over the commotion, reaching for his arrows… which are lying five feet away from him. He reaches for them, but they’re crushed by the ‘bot which is now making its slow way toward the unarmed archer. Clint screams, then, more because of his arrows. “I’m gonna shove a stick up your fucking _ass_.” He announces, staring almost mournfully at the destroyed wooden quiver and arrows which are now scattered across the floor.

Logan snorts.

“X-Men!” Says Charles. “Get everyone out.”

“On it,” Says Ororo, and then they all dash off.

The Fantastic Four exchange looks. “And us, sir?” Asks Reed.

“Just attack them all. You know the most about them, you take care of them.” He looks at the Avengers grimly. “We have something else to do entirely.”

Tony wants to ask what the hell he’s being told to do, but shuts up at a pointed look from Steve and just follows. Screw the suit; he’s Hellfire. For now, anyway.

-

Charles leads them into an old library, and then pulls out a quick sequence of books. Tony is amused that one of them is a _Bananas in Pyjamas_ picture book, but gets that same look from Steve again, so keeps his trap shut. Because, you know, he’s been smacked in the head with that shield before, and it’s not really an experience he’d like to repeat.

“Holy cow.” Says Bruce, peering at the bookshelf as it slides backward to reveal a long white passage. That’s all, too, no doors and no windows. Tony doesn’t know what the point of it is, but just goes with it. Charles has his reasons. Obviously.

“That’s cool.” Says Natasha, mildly impressed.

“No.” Says Bruce. “I was going to say something about it being like, out of a cheesy spy movie.” He glances at the bookshelf in distaste.

“Preach, brother.” Says Clint, but he salutes at the end and kind of kills it.

“What is this spy movie of cheese?” Thor looks totally lost.

“A really _bad_ spy movie.” Tony clarifies, heading into the passage, and being swiftly followed by everyone else.

The whole time they’re walking, they have to put up with Clint griping and moaning about how Tony has no sense of humour any more. The billionaire isn’t quite sure what brought that one on, but mutters something about Clint having more issues than a _Playboy_ magazine.

“Because you’ve been in plenty of _them_ ,” Clint retorts slyly, and Tony thinks back to a hideous issue that had him… no. He won’t talk about it. He just remembers Clint finding the old photo-shoot and posting it up all over the tower. The good news was, Clint’s Avengers suit and arrows were bright pink for the next few weeks.

The journalists went wild about _that_ one.

Tony is about to snap something back, when Charles clears his throat loudly and announces that they’re here, so if the Avengers would _shut up now please_ , then he’d be very grateful. All anyone can see is still just white walls, so they’re completely confused, until Charles feels about the wall for a moment and then digs his fingers into a hidden groove. His eyes light up when the wall pulls out, and there’s a big enough gap for everyone to slip past.

Once inside, Charles flicks a light switch which illuminates the room is a bright golden glow, and Tony frowns when he sees a bundle of notes in the centre of the room, and a large fridge up the back with vials of golden liquid held within it.

“Reed never dared to do this sort of research on a computer. Too dangerous if it ever got hacked, and…” Charles smiles. “…he never had the brilliance in engineering and electronics to make a JARVIS of his very own. On the other hand… sciences are his specialty. He created a sort of drug that could induce nightmares upon people.”

Clint holds up a hand, like he’s still in school or something. “Um… nightmares aren’t that bad.”

“That’s… isn’t that impossible?” Says Steve in wonder.

“It is.” Says Tony, eyes darkening. “Why would he do this?”

“He was trying to create something else.” Says Charles. “I’m not sure what. I just know that he created this by accident. Anyway. It’s not just nightmares. It brings back old memories. It brings them to the front of your mind, like they only just happened… it makes any regular person go mad. Unfortunately, there’s no certainty that his antidote works, and we’re not going to test this on anyone. It’s awful. But we didn’t want to destroy it… in case…”

 _In case we need it_.

Tony shudders.

“If it is Reed’s invention, then why is it within your possession, Charles?” Thor frowns, like there’s a concept here he can’t quite grasp. But nobody else, sans perhaps Tony, has guessed why.

“Because,” says Tony. “I daresay some people, like Erik and Victor Von Shit-Head, who have already found out about it. So he’s given it to Charles for safekeeping. Probably safer with the guy who didn’t make it than him.”

“Makes sense.” Says Natasha, slowly. She stares at the drug, like it’s the worst thing she’s ever seen. With the past she’s had, Tony can’t find himself willing to blame her, at all.

Suddenly, Steve stills. “I can…” He cocks his head to one side and closes his eyes, like he’s straining to hear something. “I can hear something.

At first, nobody else can, but then there’s a distinct whirring sound, which gradually gets closer and closer, and suddenly it’s like it’s in the same room. A quick glance toward the door has everyone reaching for weapons, and Hulk coming into immediate play. Tony allows his whole form to become engulfed in flames.

He rises off the ground a fraction, and shoots a quick experimental blast at the ‘bot. No. Not Victor Von Doom.

Clint yelps. “Holy shit!” He screeches. “It shoots out fire _too_?”

“That’s me, you dickhead.” Tony snorts, shooting a blast at him, which just misses his head. He smirks. Clint scowls.

The ‘bot creeps up, still whirring, and Tony has a moment to appreciate the uncanny likeness to the real Doctor Doom. He cocks his head to one side, then allows himself a moment to appreciate the brilliance of the invention. It’s intricately built, complete with such a human form and look, masked by a shadowed green cape that only the slight whirring and Tony’s trained eye can recognise it for the robot that it is. Then, suddenly, there’s a stampede of noise, and suddenly ten more are standing behind it; all exact clones of one another that have Tony reeling backwards in surprise.

Well then.

Natasha frowns. “So do they, like, attack or…?”

“ _HULK SMASH!”_

The Doom-Bots whirr to life. All stampede at once, followed by five more which were evidently hidden out in the corridor. Ten swarm Hulk, and he’s becoming increasingly frustrated, all of them on top of him and crushing him… and he roars then, louder than perhaps Tony had anticipated. He has to cover his ears if he’d like to keep his ear-drums intact after this.

Clint leaps at one, which Tony immediately assists him with, after a messy kick by the archer to one of its legs.

“ _This is weird_!” Clint yells, ducking under a poorly aimed fist.

“What?” Tony snaps, jumping back as a leg kicks out.

“I can see your ugly face during a fight.” He snorts. “I think it’s cramping my style.”

Tony flicks him the middle finger, then grips the Doom-Bot’s head, and blows it to smithereens. “Lovely.”

Charles is doing his best to keep them at bay, but they don’t have minds like a regular human, so he simply wheels over to the fridge and keeps guard in case any slip through. He can’t do much, but he can gain a few seconds, at best.

Natasha is fiercely battling another. Guns blazing and hair flowing behind her back like a deadly fire, it’s no wonder that she’s known as the _Black Widow_ for a reason. She’s as deadly as her counterpart, and twice as poisonous. Cap isn’t far behind. His shield saves Nat from a harsh blow to the head, because it averts the ‘bot’s attention toward the super soldier who’s eyes are gleaming with a cold sort of fury.

Perhaps the Hulk doesn’t need it, but Thor’s decided to help out over there, and with his first blow, three of the ‘bots are knocked backward, though not fully eliminated, as they just get up and scramble back over.

So, that leaves Tony.

He’s ninety-nine percent sure that by now he’s blown up about three, but they’ve learned by now that touching him is bad, and are already learning to do more evasive techniques around him. Fire is exploding from the tips of his fingers, and his dark hood is up and covering his equally dark eyes. He’s glad they can’t see his eyes; because he’s pretty sure Charles says they glow gold, like deadly fire.

He’s not sure he wants to know what that looks like.

Then, the worst happens.

It’s completely bizarre, and everyone doubts that it’s ever happened in the entire existence of the Hulk, but something goes wrong and suddenly he’s shrinking… shrinking until he’s a defenseless scientist beneath a cluster of vicious ‘bots and Tony _moves_ like he’s never moved before because _that’s his science bro._

Science bro’s for life and all that.

He darts forward and screams, louder than he’s ever screamed before and with an even deadlier yell than he’s ever heard in his life. Because there’s something raw and full of emotion that escapes him then. All the anger and rage, and love of a close friend… And then there’s an explosion of light. Everything is flashing, one by one and all at once, large explosions going off in every corner and crevice of the bright white room…

And then there is nothing.

Tony sinks to the floor, and then into blackness.

-

_“Completely bizarre. Just everything in the room…”_

_“And the Hulk? What even…?”_

_“Some sort of drug in Banner’s system?”_

_“Looks like his coffee was spiked.”_

_“Who….”_

_“How even?”_

_“I’ve never seen Tony do…”_

And then Tony is sinking back into darkness, the voices still ringing in his over-sensitive ears.

-

When he awakens next, he’s pretty sure he’s back where he woke up last time. He really needs to stop waking up like this, because he’s starting to feel like Sleeping Beauty or something, and it’s giving him hives.

Pepper is beside him again, but this time she’s sleeping, head buried in his neck and her breath puffing out in little cool gasps on his skin. Further investigation shows Bruce on the bed beside him, head wrapped in gauze and arms painted red, and then gone over in a gross yellowy colour by some sort of ointment. Clint is sleeping against the door, head lolled forward and Natasha’s head across his lap. Thor is pacing, and he seems to be the only one awake. Except for Tony.

“Hey Point Break.” Says the billionaire, weakly. “You got a… got a mean swing.”

“Man of Iron!” Booms Thor, effectively jolting everyone awake. “It was not I who placed the condition upon you.”

“It wasn’t?” Tony’s feeling confused. He _feels_ like Thor’s just whopped him upside the head with his hammer. “Then… what?”

“Doom-Bot’s, my friend.”

Then it all comes rushing back, and suddenly, Bruce sitting in the bed beside him makes a hell of a lot more sense.


	9. You Can Always Recover From A Bullet Wound.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yes, yes you can Bruce. Calm down. There’s nothing here. It’s all in your mind. It’s all Doom.” The billionaire is trying to soothe the other man, but nothing’s working (mostly because he’s just unintentionally said that Bruce’s issue is all doom) and Natasha knows that if she intervenes, it’s all going to get a lot worse. “Just calm down, Bruce, and we can fix this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. This is like, the second to last chapter? I'm not sure if the ending will take one or two more, but it's coming soon. Also, This is the shortest chapter yet (yeah, sorry) but I had to end it where I did. You'll see. Cliffies and all that.

She’s always been the stealthiest of the lot, with a deadly swagger and an easy way of speaking that makes you think one thing; only to know what she really means after she’s long gone. She’s got a way of pulling out her guns so that you think she’s bringing them out to surrender, or so quickly that you don’t have time to register she’s even got them on her, before there’s a bullet in your brain and you’re slumped on the floor with a nonexistent heartbeat.

Natasha, for all of her stealth, can also be really, really _not_ stealthy.

 _“Tell me! Who did this! Who?”_ She’s gripped his hair, forced his head back so that he’s looking past her chest and into her deadly green eyes. There’s a knife on his throat; an agonizing tug of hair, and suddenly he’s seeing little white spots dancing in his vision.

“How did you…?”

“How did I find you?” Natasha hisses at Pyro, who’s had his lighter confiscated. “Easy. I followed the stench of fat and ugly and found your miserable old ass. I have Magneto already; what makes you think _you’re_ any better than him?”

“Tony Stark doesn’t have his hands on me?” He breathes out.

“Oh, but I do.” Natasha spits furiously. “And I think you’ll find that I’m a _lot_ scarier.”

“You can recover from a bullet wound, _Widow_. But you can’t recover if you’ve been blown apart.”

“Not if that bullet’s been lodged into your brain, you fat _shit_.” Natasha snarls. “And unless you tell me _who the fuck_ drugged Bruce, I think you’ll find that that’s the way you’re going to go.”

“I… It…” Pyro chokes as the knife bites slightly into his neck. The table to his right explodes, and he looks up to where he can see Tony peering at him through a wall of glass murderously. “No one’s drugged the guy, okay? Doom’s been working on mind control tech, which was why Erik wanted to get on his side in the first place. If he could convince all mutants to join him, then he’d have a lot more luck. Doom wanted to get Hulk under his control, but Erik rebutted the idea… except then you caught Erik and so…”

“Erik… Magneto, right?” Natasha frowns, relaxing her hold on the knife slightly. “So it was mind control – not drugs… Tony? You got that?”

Tony behind the glass nods harshly. He spins on his heel, black cape billowing out behind him, and dashes off so quickly that his path is followed with little scorch marks.

-

When she walks into his room, Natasha finds Clint pacing the length of his bed. Hands running through his hair, and a dangerous glint to his eyes that suggests he’s definitely the most bothered by all of this mind control business. Everyone had heard the occurrence, since Natasha had insisted that the coms be turned on for the interrogation so that everyone could be prepared no matter where they were.

“Mind control?” Clint is whispering. “Oh my God. Oh my God. No. No. Not Bruce. No. Fight it Bruce.”

“Clint.” Natasha snaps. “He’s stable at the moment. He’s still sleeping; Tony’s got me posted. Calm yourself.”

Clint sits down heavily on his bed, eyes staring into the distance in horror. Beads of sweat plaster his forehead, and it’s all Natasha can do to sit down beside him and place her arms around his shoulders. She rests her head on his shoulder and grasps his hand in hers. She’s muttering to him _it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,_ over and over, and he’s still off in Dreamland like he’s too terrified to move. It’s okay though, because she understands.

“He’s… Nat, it’s Loki all over again. He’s gonna get me, Nat.”

It’s then that Natasha realizes that his reaction is a lot more serious than she’d first thought. If he keeps himself worked up like this, then it’s going to end up as a full blown anxiety attack. “Clint.” She says, harsher than she’d intended. “Calm the hell down.” Then, when he doesn’t listen, she slaps him in the face.

He jumps violently and turns to face her, eyes clearing and flashing with recognition as though he’s just realizing that she’s there for the first time since she’d walked in. Then, he breaks down. His whole body shudders from the shock and he just collapses into her arms; sobbing and shaking.

“Shh, Clint.” Natasha murmurs. “Just let it all out…”

It takes him a while, but eventually he does, and then he’s wiping his eyes in a sort of embarrassment. “I’m sorry.” He mutters. “I just, uh…”

Natasha smiles wryly. “It’s all good.” She says, and she’s about to add to her statement when something floods in Clint’s eyes and then his lips are on hers, firmly and passionately. There’s something in the way his arms snake around her that tells her that _if she lets go_ he’s going to freak out even more. So she kisses back; and when they break away, panic floods Clint’s features and Natasha can’t do anything but run.

-

When Natasha finds him, Tony’s in the infirmary trying to make Bruce calm down. His hands are on the other man’s shoulders, and his eyes are fixed on the scientist’s eyes, which are usually brown but have now turned an emerald shade of green. “Bruce.” He says, hands shaking slightly. He’s still drained from his show of power a little under twenty-four hours ago, and he’s struggling to stay upright. “Calm down okay? Calm the _fuck down_.”

Bruce gasps, and his back arches off the bed. _“Hulk angry_.” He snarls, and then his voice changes back to Bruce; “I can’t….”

“Yes, yes you can Bruce. Calm down. There’s nothing here. It’s all in your mind. It’s all Doom.” The billionaire is trying to soothe the other man, but nothing’s working (mostly because he’s just unintentionally said that Bruce’s issue is all _doom_ ) and Natasha knows that if she intervenes, it’s all going to get a lot worse. “Just calm down, Bruce, and we can fix this.”

Bruce growls again.

“Calm yourself. Calm your mind. Steady…”

This time, the growl is more of a whimper.

“Shh…”

The green fades; slowly, yeah, but it does. Tony closes his eyes in relief, and Natasha breathes a heavy sigh; alerting the playboy to her presence.

“That’s happed around three times already.” He says, troubled, and as he gazes at Bruce’s face. The other man’s eyes are closed and his breathing is slowed, though still harsh. “I think its hypnotism; not really a mind control drug, as Pyro was hinting at. I think if we just find a release word, or perhaps an action…?”

“Then Bruce can be himself again.” Natasha mutters. “Yeah, okay. Sounds good.”

Tony cocks his head to one side. “What’s up with you, Nat?”

“Clint.” She mutters. “I just… he was freaking out… and…”

“You kissed him?” Tony guesses, and then purses his lips. “No. He kissed you, didn’t he? And now you don’t know what to do about it.”

“Something like that.”

Tony drapes an arm around her shoulders. “I totally called it.”

*

The meeting is called in the infirmary where Bruce is, because they all need Tony by his side, since he’s the only one apparently capable of calming the man down. Pepper’s even here, and she’s snuggled in by Tony’s side, head on his shoulder as they listen to Nick Fury drone on and on about something or other.

“So, there’s basically this weird-ass nightmare drug,” Fury summarizes, sunnies covering his eyes due to the lack of _eye patch_ there. “And then some other weird-ass dude who thinks it’s all fine to go around and hypnotize the Hulk, of all things, which is why Magneto joined his posse in the first place. And now they all want to go after this scary as all hell nightmare drug which’ll probably make shit hit the fan. Am I right?”

Clint cocks his head to one side, sitting beside Natasha as usual, although there’s an odd sort of tension between them this time. “I think so.” He mutters, fondling an arrowhead in his hand which he’d been sharpening earlier. The sight kind of creeps Tony out a little, but whatever.

“And does anyone _think_ they know where Doom’s gonna strike next?” Fury snaps, eyes falling on Tony. Everyone else looks at him too, but the billionaire has already stood up with a little of his old cocky self, sparking in his dark eyes.

“I got this.” He says, smirking lightly. “Unfortunately, everyone else in this _shit_ hole is pretty stupid, so you’re probably gonna feel worse after I tell you. Or _not_. But whatever. Okay. So. He’s _obviously_ gone down to my tower, right?” His eyebrows are raised now, and he’s looking around the room like everyone is supposed to get it or something.

“Sorry. Why?” Johnny snaps. _Literally_ , he snaps his fingers and a little flame explodes at the tip.

“Because they’re trying to one-up Loki, obviously.” Tony rolls his eyes. “The whole mind-control crap – sorry Clint – and the fact that JARVIS just told me that there are people in my tower who _shouldn’t be_.”

“That _does_ make sense.” Steve agrees.

-

Tony’s beginning to wonder why the Avengers are called an _emergency response team._ Because, really, he shouldn’t be able to show up at the tower without his suit (sure, he flies alongside Johnny, and they’re pretty fast, but _still_ ) nineteen and a half minutes earlier than them.

That’s just getting a little sad, really.

That, and the fact that Doom’s already taken it upon himself to release his Doom-Bots on the city and stand on top of the tower and cackle like a _fucking_ witch. Cliché bad guy, much?

“Uh, hey.” Says Tony. “You’re not as cool as Loki, so I won’t be threatening you today.”

Doom stares at him and Johnny, brow furrowed. “What..?”

“You’re being cliché and trying to copy the last guy who attacked New York.” Johnny clarifies. “I think it’s kind of Stark’s pet peeve.”

“Yeah.” Tony agrees, rather snappishly. “It is. So, would you kindly remove your ass from my tower before I ask JARVIS to do it for me? Sorry. I just can’t be bothered wasting my time on you.”

Doom raises his eyebrows in a sort of amusement. “No.” He says.

And that’s when a giant green fists slams into the side of his head.


	10. So Much For An Emergency Response Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony can’t remember the last time he felt so alive. He’s whirring through the mutants on the roof of his tower, flame burning around him and fire flickering from his palms. He can see his eyes reflected in those of the mutants who he blasts, and they’re a dangerous gold. Everyone he touches explodes on impact, and his veins feel alive with more power than he’s known for many, many years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER. I may do an epilogue later... but for now....
> 
> Also, I am absolutely horrible at fight scenes and endings. You have been warned.

A roar is what follows; an earsplittingly loud noise that has Tony and Johnny darting backward a few steps, and Doom’s cry is drowned out by the audacity of it. Tony can’t really find it within himself to be annoyed at Hulk, however, because inside he’s cheering at the top of his lungs. Doom’s just been flung across the roof of Stark Tower by the sheer force of one of Hulk’s punches.

But it’s not enough to keep the guy down, apparently. Not that Tony really knows how, since if _he’d_ been slammed in the face with one of Hulk’s fists, he’d be out cold. His only hope is that Doom’s gotten himself a concussion of some sort.

“ _Ka-bam_.” Johnny hoots quietly, eyes sparking with mischief. His whole form explodes into flame and he darts about a foot into the air. It’s something that Tony’s a little jealous of, really. He can’t glow as bright, burn as hot or move as fast as Johnny when he’s activated his own fire. He feels more sluggish and slow. More powerful, but much, much slower.

Tony blasts a jet of fire at Doom, who recoils slightly as he staggers toward the two fire users and the Hulk who’s flared his nostrils in annoyance. “HULK SMASH!” He spits, but Tony holds out a hand to silence the beast.

“Just wait, Hulk.” Tony says quietly, taking a few steps forward and peering interestedly at the ‘super-villain’. “Smashing didn’t quite work.”

“It _fucking did_.” Doom snorts. “My head hurts like a…” He trails off, not being able to quite find the right word for it. Tony grins slightly.

“In that case,” says Tony slightly. “Hulk, smash.”

Doom won’t ever admit it, but he whimpered.

-

So, screw _emergency response team_. Steve knows that Tony’s probably wondering where they are, mostly because their coms are all screwed up right now. When Magneto escaped, (and yeah, _straight_ after Tony and Johnny had left), he’d crunched up all of their coms and everything else with it.

Hawkeye’s arrows? Gone.

Nat’s guns? Screwed.

Steve’s shield? Hopefully Tony could fix its shape up later.

Tony was lucky he’d decided to go without his suit. Or, not. Magneto had pried the thing apart and tried to fit himself inside it… but JARVIS had forced the thing to explode with the mutant still inside, so Erik was now sporting some pretty horrendous burns.

Thor’s hammer was safe. There was something in the strange Asgardian metal that had protected the thing from Magneto’s metal manipulation – thank God.

“I _do_ wish you still had your… _Iron Man_ with you.” Magneto snarls dangerously, and he strides in through the Helicarrier doors with Mystique trailing along beside him. He’d also managed to rescue Pyro, so the guy storms in not long after them. Storm is glaring at him from beside Thor, eyes dark and stormy. “But I guess, even without the suit, he’ll still be fun to toy with. He still has that reactor deep within his chest.” The mutant laughs softly.

“You won’t touch him.” Natasha snarls.

“No.” Magneto agrees. “Not if he chooses to join me. If not… I won’t touch him – but I’ll _rip_ his heart to shreds. Or not. The shrapnel will do it for me, I suppose. If I let it.”

Jean scowls. “You won’t.”

“Fuck off, bub.” Logan snarls. With a look from Magneto, he’s paralysed in place. Not for the first time, the man inwardly curses the mutant to hell, as well as his metallic bones. Screw them.

“Language.” Pyro _tsks_ gleefully. “Watch it, _bub_.” He mocks, then.

Logan growls, deep in his throat, and Jean makes a stapler fly off the table and smack into his head. Because she can, you know? Ororo has the nerve to laugh. Thunder shakes the Helicarrier, and everyone notices Steve’s wary look at the noise. Maybe he’s worried about the aircraft being caught in a storm or something. Which, you know, with Ororo on board…

“Mutants,” Magneto announces, glaring at Pyro who’s rubbing his head grouchily. “We’re leaving.” And before anyone can do anything, they’ve shot out the window. Fury curses them to hell and announces that the damage repairs are coming out of Stark’s pocket.

-

There was a flicker of gold, and then a crash that seemed to rock the tower to its very foundations. Doom had lunged to the side, barely missing a blast of fire from Johnny’s palms, and his eyes met Tony’s for the briefest of moments. There was something cold in Tony’s eyes; a look that confused even Hulk, and Doom’s skin crawled as he looked at it.

“I’m going to enjoy watching you burn.” Tony snarled. His palms heated up.

_“Stark!”_

While the fire burning in his palms didn’t relent at the outburst, Tony’s attention was diverted to the source of the exclamation. His eyes met those of Magneto’s and a wary look crossed the industrialist’s face. “Stay away, Erik.” Tony hissed. He was barely surprised by the mutant’s presence, as he’d figured that SHIELD would lose him sooner or later.

“But you’re such _fun_ to mess with.” Magneto laughed, and Tony swallowed as his reactor twisted slightly in his chest. He registered how odd it was to see Magneto without his signature helmet, but also felt relieved knowing that Charles could get into his mind now. It was a small comfort; but everything helped right now.

Tony opened his mouth to respond, eyes darkening. He was saved from his cold retort, however, by the sharp noise of the Avengers quinjet. Steve was the first to land, followed by Thor in a sharp burst of thunder, and then Clint and Natasha dropped down beside them. The quinjet flew off, Magneto watching it with amusement.

“How can you fight me, Avengers?” Magneto chided. “Without the aid of your all-important weapons? I cannot stress how important you seem to find them in all of your battles. What use is a hawk without his bow? Or a spider without her bullets? Or even an American patriot without a shield to defend his country?”

“And what use are _you,_ without your _face_?” Tony spits.

“Not much use, I expect.” Magneto says coolly. “Just like you are no use alive; except for the uncanny ability to make things explode.”

“And the ability to revolutionise the country.” Tony adds, just to make sure everyone knows.

Clint’s lips quirk into a wry smile.

Steve rolls his eyes.

Magneto sighs. “That too, I suppose.” He admits.

He allows himself to hit the ground, and his fellow mutant allies all fan out behind him. Hulk snarls and Natasha places a hand on the rippling green of his forearm to calm him. The snarl turns into an aggravated snort.

“Flame on…?” Johnny mutters, only to be followed by a loud agreeance from Hulk.

“HULK SMASH!” The green monster yells once again, and then everything happens faster than Natasha can process. Before she knows it, a fist slams into her shoulder, and she spins to find herself face-to-face with a blue-skinned girl with bright red hair and intricate patterns woven all over her body. Mystique.

Natasha follows through with a harsh kick to Mystique’s upper body, and then is sent backward with a palm to the cheek. A wooden arrow pierces her attacker’s thigh, and she internally thanks Clint for being smart enough to remember _those_ arrows.

He reaches down to help her up, and she grins at him as she staggers to her feet.

-

Tony can’t remember the last time he felt so alive. He’s whirring through the mutants on the roof of his tower, flame burning around him and fire flickering from his palms. He can see his eyes reflected in those of the mutants who he blasts, and they’re a dangerous gold. Everyone he touches explodes on impact, and his veins feel alive with more power than he’s known for many, _many_ years.

He spots Mystique out of the corner of his eye pulling a wooden arrow from her thigh with a horrific screech, but Clint and Natasha are onto her faster than blinking. Steve’s working side-by-side with Thor, stunning the enemies with electricity and lightning, only to be kicked back down with a beating from the super soldier.

Tony spurs himself over to Clint and Nat, blasting a girl backwards and turning to the Black Widow expectantly. “Care to explain how Hulk managed to get here? You know, despite him being all… not himself?” He finishes his sentence with a wary look at Clint.

“Clint triggered it.” Natasha grinned. “He accidentally slapped Bruce in the face, and while we were all freaking out about him”-she delivered a harsh kick to a guy that Tony recognised as Toad-“ _Hulking Out_ , he just sort of sat up all dazed. So; either that was the release action, or cognitive recalibration worked once again.”

Tony snorts. “What I would’ve given to see _that_.” He mutters, kicking Toad off of Clint and blasting a girl who he didn’t quite recognise.

“Yeah, no.” Clint snaps. “It was scary.”

There’s a sharp pain in Tony’s arc reactor again, and he spins to face Magneto.

The metal-bender smiles eerily, and forces Tony to the ground by increasing the pain in his chest with a sharper tug at the arc. Magneto bends over Tony’s form, and everyone would’ve jumped forward; but then they’re all flanked harder by the mutants on Magneto’s side. Natasha yells out viciously as she’s pinned down by Toad, and Clint is too busy trying to force him off of her than to assist Tony. Steve and Thor are busy with around ten of Magneto’s and Hulk is literally trying to climb back up the building after being flung down by a surprise attack from Doom.

Tony yells in pain as his arc twists, and then moans as it makes a sharp _click_ and then is removed slowly from his chest. He shuts his eyes, the pain too overwhelming for him to focus. Magneto is bending the metal in his chest; the casing which the arc usually settles into.

Then, when he thinks he’s going to die at Magneto’s mercy… everything halts.

A glance upward shows that Magneto is frozen, literally, in place. His eyes are glassy, and the arc falls back comfortably into Tony’s chest. The genius lurches upward as the arc settles back into place, and then turns around to see Charles rolling into the scene, a finger to his temple. All of the mutants on Magneto’s side scramble backward as Charles holds out a pair of plastic cuffs and tosses them to Tony. It’s not long before Tony has them attached quickly to Erik’s wrists, and every mutant on his side looks wary and slightly lost as their leader is apprehended before them.

Something snaps in Tony’s eyes as he realises that only one person isn’t moving away.

Doom, who’s eyes are on Magneto and the plastic cuffs digging into his wrists, doesn’t see the harsh look in Hell’s eyes. Tony’s got his mind set on the man now, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop him. The burning starts slow, right at the tips of Doom’s toes, and spreads quickly up his legs. His body gives off sparks as Tony forces the whole process to happen slowly, and then his body rips apart. There’s a crackling noise, and a white hot explosion that reminds Natasha of a star twinkling in the night sky. Doom is screaming and pleading for mercy, pain evident in the involuntary tears sparkling in his eyes. Then, there’s a thunderous boom, and when the dust clears; Doom is gone.

The cry fades as the lights of the city below flickered on and the sun vanishes beneath the horizon. Everyone is horrified; staring at the playboy as he looks at the place where Doom had just vanished in satisfaction and amazement.

“Ah.” He murmurs softly. “So that’s how it happens.”

“Tony!” Steve gasps in horror. “What…?”

“Steve.” Natasha barks. “Shut up a moment.”

Finally, Tony smiles in amusement and Natasha finds her own lips quirking up into a smile of her own. Because that smile of Tony’s?

It’s real.

(They’ll just have to deal with everyone else in a moment. For now; Tony’s allowing himself a moment, and that’s all that matters in his mind right now.)


End file.
